Poetry and the arts take an important place in the realm of influencing change, raising awareness and stirring the pot. Poets, writers and film makers have been my catalysts and guides along the sometimes confusing trail of conservation and direct action.

Hip Pocket Press publishes a newsletter sharing poets views on the environment. Named Canary for the unique place this lovely songbird held as a harbinger of deadly mine gas, this collection of loosely themed writings informs us of an inner life nurtured by nature.

“The canary in the coal mine” was a primitive early warning system used by miners to alert themselves to poison gases seeping into the mines.  If the canary was found dead, it was time to get out quick.  As a metaphor, its significance for me includes not only the salvation of the humans, but also the casual loss of the canary, that fragile and innocent bird with its lovely song, sacrificed without a passing regret….”—Gail Entrekin, Editor, Hip Pocket Press

Canary is really more of a slim, online chapbook, streaming together visions of the natural world from many corners of our diminishing planet than a newsletter. Worth a look, Canary is an invitation to contemplate the lovely song of poets and to find a place for personal action.