COP28 is underway at time of writing, an opportunity for the world to come together and do nothing as usual. It’s hard not to be cynical; the climate summits seem designed to give the appearance of meaningful dialogue, the possibility of imminent action, while in fact kicking the can further down the road.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEX) Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais has urged OPEC+ members to reject proposals for any agreement at COP28 that targets fossil fuels rather than emissions. The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, chief executive of the UAE’s state oil company, Adnoc, claimed last week that there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed. Such a thing would, he claimed, “take the world back into caves.”
Some of the poems in our current issue express frustration with the intractability of things. Looming statistics in Harriet Jae’s poem ‘Straw Orb’ interrupt the more intimate narrative, while Penelope Shuttle’s ‘sestude viii’ is a plaintive lament for what is being lost. Other poems seem to register the immensity of the current moment. Philip Gross in ‘Transmigrations’ conveys a sense of deep time, the mythic journeys and other lives that have brought us here.
Meanwhile, the world watches seemingly unable or unwilling to intervene while the people in Gaza – half of them children – are subjected to unprecedented bombings. The Ministry of Health in Gaza says 17,177 people have been killed, 7,112 of them children. Tens of thousands are wounded and lack access to basic care. Throughout November 2023 we have held a campaign of writing prompts – find out more here – donated freely by writers from across Wales or with a connection to Wales, with the simple hope that they might raise funds for medical aid for children and their families in Gaza. We include two more prompts in this issue from Robert Walton and Lani O’Hanlon. As ever, if you find the prompts useful, we urge you to donate to UNICEF and other charities.
We are grateful to Emily Trahair, editor of the much-loved magazine Planet: The Welsh Internationalist, for her help and support with the campaign. Planet, a central part of Welsh literary culture for over 50 years, recently had its bid for funding rejected by the Books Council of Wales, a decision that has caused shock and dismay. Planet has been a leading voice for action on climate change and the ecological crisis for many years, so please support it if you can. Those who entertain the notion that we can’t afford to keep Planet deserve very close scrutiny. There are many more of us who believe we can’t afford to lose it.
What can change? Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, reviewed in this issue, takes a deep look at the question, agreeing essentially with Einstein that we cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it. We need a radical reimagining of the most foundational attitudes and approaches our culture has towards nature. Sir Francis Bacon’s notorious characterization of nature as female and to be dominated comes to mind.
A follower of Bacon might be found in Lydia Harris’ poem ‘Robert Dick’s Herbarium’ which portrays the investigation of herbs by this 19th century baker-turned-scientist with a sense of disquiet. Hywel Griffiths reminds us, however, of our lack of control, that any domination of nature is ultimately an illusion. In ‘Pont Trefechan’, Griffith’s poem about a ruined bridge, there is always the possibility that the river may rise up and startle the town: “er llifo’n ddof / rhwng glannau concrit yma’n ildio’i lle, / a’i hawl i godi a syfrdanu’r dre”.
Jane Burn’s commentary on her experimental poems/prints reminds us that human speech is not the only way of speaking:
Often, I think the assumption that our mode of communication is the means by which all else must be translated, will be humanity’s downfall. Earth does not sing with a human tongue. Earth does not discuss aspects of its many lives in the way that we do. It is presumptuous to assume the infinite dialogues on Earth can be validated against ours.
From Prints / Poems by Jane Burn
The language we use to represent nature or to describe our relationship with it needs to be put under pressure, as in Nia Davies’s poem ‘Llewaidd, Chauvet/Uplands’ with its innovation with English and Cymraeg.
We received many provoking and moving poems on the theme of sanctuary. Linda France’s ‘Roost’ listens to bats and sounds out the dark, while Jenny Mitchell imagines the recreation of a beloved environment in a high-rise flat in ‘Immigrant Creation’. In interview with Siân Melangell Dafydd, clare e. potter describes nature as a sanctuary in the sense that it can heal by putting us back in touch with a fundamental interconnectedness. It reminds us that the world is larger than human concerns:
A’r diwrnod hwnnw, roedd y dŵr yn symud mor wyllt, ac yn symud dros y boulder, a meddyliais i – wow – weithiau da ni ddim angen llifo o’i gwmpas e” [And that day, the water was moving so wildly, and moving over the boulder, and I thought – wow – sometimes we don’t need to flow around it].
From “Gwythiennau – maen nhw’n wyrdd gen i”: Sgwrs gyda clare e. potter a Siân Melangell Dafydd
Many poems find a kind of sanctuary in paying close attention to their environments with sensuous, gorgeous detail, as in Adedayo Agarau’s ‘starvation’ or Sharon Black’s ‘Ruin’ and ‘Mouldywarp’. There is the feeling of being absorbed into one’s environment as in Jeremy Dixon’s ‘subject to erosion’, or in Matt Howard’s ‘Exuviae Survey’ and ‘Earthstars’, shedding the Latin to get closer to the things themselves. The unexpected break at the end of Bruach Mhor’s ‘keep going.’ leaves us pondering endurance.
We need poetry and poets more than ever: we need many and diverse voices engaged in the vital work and play of reimagining everything. Because that’s what’s at stake now: everything. We need more magazines, more platforms, more readings, more and better questions asked, and deeper, gentler attention paid to the world and to each other. Nobody else will do it for us.
We hope you enjoy issue 3 of Modron. Issue 4 will be out in late spring. Sign up to our mailing list or follow us on social media to be informed of when we open for submissions. As ever, thank you to our team including Taz Rahman, Siân Melangell Dafydd, and Glyn F. Edwards.
Kristian Evans & Zoë Brigley, December 10th 2023
Modron Magazine 