Back when I was small a green poet would have been (a) Irish (b) naïve or (c) somewhat mildewy. Today it clearly means someone who both pens verse and is looking at greener alternatives for how we use our fragile planet.

I really do make no excuses for my utter and unshakeable certainty that, as a species we need to be far more aware and caring of everything around us. I’d like to say it’s a lifelong belief and that as soon as I was aware of how greenhouse gasses were affecting the planet, my behaviours and attitudes changed. Sadly no. I was introduced to with notion of a planet being warmed by us rather than nature in 1974 by my extraordinary history master who had us read about Gaia theory as proposed by Professor James Lovelock.

Since then my understanding – it’s climate change rather than global warming that is the issue – and the width and depth of the problems – careless abuse of resources, the egregious over development and unsustainable farming practices, the fixation with non degradable plastics to name a few – has grown and, because I am passionate that it is part of my responsivity to do what I can to hand the planet on in a better condition than I received it (clearly that’s not happening any time soon) it has impacted my poetry.

There are several poems in my new poetry book that touch on this subject and my attitude towards it. In hosting me on her equally concerned blog Pam Lazos, lawyer and author (hey, another one) inspired me to explain how that poetry came about and how it developed over some several years.

Here is the link. Do please visit and give Pam’s blog a good look round; you’ll surely find something to both enjoy and inspire…

Thank you Pam