The Orchard Garden

 I'm glad you enjoyed, and wish you all well for the rest of this experience!

Here are my preparatory notes for yesterday's eco-poetry workshop. 

Enjoy!

Jo

Eco-poetry workshop in the Orchard Garden

May 17, 2022 

The aim of this workshop is to: 

• explore what we understand by eco-poetry 

• experiment with an array of eco-poetic activities, and consider how we may draw from these in our teaching

• consider the role of a gardener and beings in and around the garden.

Eco-poetry?

Let’s begin with what we already know about eco-poetry; and how this may connect with various subject areas ...

Eco-poetry: 

• has a strong ecological focus and is about the desire for creating change

• is nature poetry that imagines changing the ways people think, feel about, and live and respond to the planet

• supports a poetic, cultural, and spiritual orientation to life

• explores interconnectedness between humans and non-humans and gives voice to more-than-human worlds

• considers the possibilities of renewing our commitment to places such as The Orchard Garden through a multiple literacies lens. 

Activity 1: Encountering beings in the garden 

Aims: explore how being outdoors can enhance writing and make writing poetry enjoyable; consider beings living in the garden.

Wander around the garden and stop by a being who calls to you! This could be a tree, a plant, a bee … What do you think I mean by call to you? Draws your attention, catches your eye … 

Connect with this plant for about five minutes, sitting or standing or moving nearby; no writing just observing, maybe closing your eyes, smelling, letting its leaves brush your skin …

Write words to describe your experiences of being with this tree or plant, e.g., create a word-bank / bevy, gathering, collection, group … to describe what you see, smell, sounds, colours, shapes, textures, movement, gestures, feelings …

Each person shares their words, gestures, acts movement …

With this knowledge of another being, we’re going to create a praise poem or an ode inspired by mentions of Odes in yesterday’s workshop. Experiences of teaching odes before? 

An ode comes in many forms – short, long, rhyming, nonrhyming, but a key characteristic is odes celebrate a being, tree, plant, person, place ... 

Odes often begin with “O Picnic Table …!” and consist of 4-lines, flamboyant, meditative, something else. 

3-5 minutes to write an ode. 

Share.

Discuss possible ways to adapt this activity for different subject areas & ages …?

Various poetic forms, e.g., haiku with 5-7-5 syllable pattern, Fibonacci sequence poems, Bridges Math and Art …

Activity 2 – Encountering voices in the garden

Aims: Eco-poetry helps us to take a fresh look at life; consider the garden from different perspectives and multiple literacies. 

Writing in ways that do not place human interests at the centre helps to shift attitudes and make room for wonder. Rich in many languages, only a few of which are human, eco-poetry gives voice to the languages of trees, plants, oceans, clouds …

These beings speak to us and may even gift inspiring messages as to how we might move forward. 

In pairs, create a call and response poem between a being, e.g., a bee, tree, plant and a gardener. Person 1 imagines being a tree, plant, bird, bumble bee, shed …; and person 2 a gardener.

Person 1 calls, and person 2 responds. 

A call? Could be a question, a surprise, a random happening, advice, a complaint …

A response? Could be an answer, another question or happening … 

Write three verses, with between 2 & 6 lines in each.

Consider layers in the garden – beneath the soil, mostly unseen roots; the ground; air and skies above …

Show image of different spheres, and where gardener is in relation.

Activity 3 – Bringing wonder to the wider area

Aims: Explore how the Orchard Garden brings wonder to the wider area through the voices of at least three beings.

So often I consider the garden as an oasis surrounded by an encroaching campus and want to give voice to more complex relations with the help of beings who live and travel among the garden and surrounding areas. 

For example, a poetic conversation between comfrey bell flowers, bees travelling across campus, and the Scarfe Building … 

Let’s go for a walk near to the garden and encounter beings living there. Consider living connections with the garden … 

Consider ways in which eco-poetry makes environmentalism happen, influence of stories about a place, patience, humour … 

Eco-poetry provides both a healthy way to respond to issues we care about, as well as thinking creatively about words and the worlds we create.

In groups of 3 or 4 write a poem or a poetic conversation in response to our walking experience, and share!