Katherine Barrett, PhD, et al: “Thanks, Mosses” (poem

Thanks, Mosses

David Bautista-Amick, Miranda Brewer, Sarah Davis, Redmond Gallagher, Guadalupe Gonzalez, Abigail Gross, Leilani Ingham, Oscar Jarmon, Diane Maillotte, Dorian Perez Bacilio, Edgar Ramos Estrada, Melissa Ramos-Nevarez, David Ross, Jordyn Smith, Julie Wappel, and Hunter Zezovski

This is a found poem composed of quotes from the primary literature and the book Gathering Moss by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer that were read in Dr. Katherine Barrett’s Human Ecology class. Students from the class worked in small groups to imitate poems they enjoyed, and this poem is a compilation of selected verses that they wrote. The poem is constructed in a way meant to convey the meaning of Human Ecology and what it means to care for our common home.

I think I am following a Bear.1

It was the earth: still there; still strong; still under your feet.2

And the paths were still there, the road was still there…3

There is much we can’t see…4

There is a home for everything, the puzzle pieces slip into place,

1 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003), 4. 2 Helen Cox, “Loss, healing, and the power of place,” Human Studies, no. 23 (2003): 76. 3 Ibid. 4 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003), 6.

The time to be a bystander has passed6:

The task of humans is to live in wisdom, in right relations, in harmony and balance, with all else in the cosmos…7

We have so many things in common.8

At every turn of a leaf, there are mysteries.9

Species find ways of co-existing and evolving…10

Collaboration and coordination of contributions is necessary...11

Our responsibility is to care for the plants and all the land in a way that honors life.12

All it requires of us is attentiveness.13

Look in a certain way and a whole new world can be revealed.14

The boundaries between my world

5 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003), 90. 6 Ibid., 155. 7 Ibid., 74. 8 Ibid., 91. 9 Ibid., 61. 10 Sean Burkholder, “The new ecology of vacancy: rethinking land use in shrinking cities,” Sustainability, no. 4 (2012): 1167. 11 Roderick Lawrence, “Human ecology and its applications,” Landscape and Urban Planning, no. 65 (2003): 39. 12 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003), 110. 13 Ibid., 10. 14 Ibid.

and the world of another being get pushed back with sudden clarity, an experience both humbling and joyful.15

I know I am following a Bear.16

Being small doesn’t mean being unsuccessful.17

There are life forms here that occur nowhere else on the planet, and intricate relationships evolved over eons.18

A photo of a statue of St. Francis of Assisi by the Ponds at Holy Cross Village. Photo credit: Edgar Ramos Estrada.

You might take care not to step on them.19

The tunnel seems easier on the way out.20

15 Ibid., 9. 16 Ibid., 6. 17 Ibid., 15. 18 Ibid., 61 19 Ibid. 20 Ibid., 5.

Treat it with love and care and it becomes a loving and caring place.22

...plants come to us when they are needed… They will stay with us as long as they are respected.23

But if we forget about them, they will leave.24

I hold tight to the vision that someday soon we will find the courage of self-restraint, the humility to live like mosses.25

It is the wordless voice of longing that resonates with us, the longing to continue, to participate in the sacred life of the world.26

One day, when we rise to give thanks to nature, we may hear an echo in return, the forest giving thanks to the people.27

21 Ibid., 139. 22 Helen Cox, “Loss, healing, and the power of place,” Human Studies, no. 23 (2003): 73. 23 Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss (Oregon State University Press, 2003), 161. 24 Ibid. 25 Ibid., 150. 26 Ibid., 28. 27 Ibid., 150.