Why poetry at zoos?
Shared by RUTH WILSON
Why poetry at zoos? I’m at Brookfield Zoo where I encounter bears and bison. I also encounter poetry. I wonder, “Do I focus on the bears and bison or the words carved in the structures around them? I’ve often asked myself a related question: Do words we use to label and describe other creatures restrict our understanding of who they really are and create barriers to a deeper relationship with them? Today, my eyes and thoughts move back and forth from the exquisite creatures beyond the glass wall at the Great Bear Wilderness exhibit to the words etched in the glass – “My words are tied in one / With the great mountains / With the great rocks / With the great trees / In one with my body / And my heart.” These words from a Yokuts Prayer* remind me of how all living creatures – humans included – share a common body, a common soul.
*The poem is a traditional poem of the Yokuts, a Nation of Native Americans in California. The poem is in the public domain on the internet and was also published in “The Language of Conservation”(p. 26), the book featured in the image.
(Preston, J. 2013. The Language of Conservation. New York: Poets House).