"Ecology" by Jack Collom

Jack Collom is a contemporary poet from Chicago. He writes, like many contemporary poets, about daily happenings and observations. As one can see from this poem, he has been described as an ecological poet.

Ecology

Surrounded by bone, surrounded by cells,by rings, by rings of hell, by hair, surrounded byair-is-a-thing, surrounded by silhouette, by honey-wet bees, yetby skeletons of trees, surrounded by actual, yes, for practicalpurposes, people, surrounded by surrealpopcorn, surrounded by the reborn: Surrender in the centerto surroundings. O surrender forever, neverend her, let her blend around, surrender to the surroundings thatsurround the tender endo-surrender, thattumble through the tumbling to that blue thatcurls around the crumbling, to that, the blue thatrumbles under the sun bounding the pearl thatwe walk on, talk on; we can chalk thatup to experience, sensing the brown here that’sblue now, a drop of water surrounding a cow that’sblack & white, the warbling Blackburnian twitter that’smachining midnight orange in the light that’sglittering in the light green visible wind. That’sthe ticket to the tunnel through the thicket that’sa cricket’s funnel of music to correct & pick it outfrom under the wing that whirls up over & out.

This poem is a very interesting meditation on the title matter: ecology. The description takes many forms; environment, biology, community. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this poem is that which is heard. The language and diction that the poet chose is fascinating in an oral reading. The alliteration: "for practical / purposes, people, surrounded by surreal / popcorn"... the repetition of "that" at the end of the lines, the enjambment which forces a continued reading without much room for breath. It's as if the poem itself is living, refusing to be structured or even put down on the page. The language is hard to control - reading it aloud, you find yourself caught up in simply reading, taken away by the words trying to leave the page without regard for your voice or knowledge. What an interesting experiment.

http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poem/238516