It's Real
Poets Respond to the Climate Crisis
Monday’s Café Muse Online brought together two outstanding poets, Carrie Bennett and Dorsía Smith Silva who each expressed a deep concern for the planet. Karren Alenier’s Q&A at the end of the reading engaged the poets in a lively and important conversation on the need for artists to address these themes. Carrie Bennett spoke of having recently purchased a cap that says, “Art is Activism”. With the threat this summer of a super El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean which could bring devastating heat and crop failures, we cannot as poets turn away from our duty to use our art to wake people up to what we are doing to the planet.
A Last Ice Age
In The Mouth Is Also a Compass, Carrie Bennett takes us on an exploration of an apocalyptic world which could be our human legacy, unless we learn to see past our denial and take action. So here, let the expedition begin.
In direct and horrifying language, Carrie Bennett gives us a vision of an unbroken night.
Things We Lose
Throughout her reading from In Inheritance of Drowning, Dorsía Smith Silva gave us a stark accounting of the things we lose in climate related weather catastrophes, focusing on Hurricane Maria’s impact on Puerto Rico. She described with powerful imagery how these climate events fall hardest upon those already lacking in resources. In My Grandmother’s Photo, Dorsía Smith Silva shows us how a beloved photo can be lost forever by severe weather.
Here is the kind of loss felt by those caught in events like Hurricane Katrina or the west coast fire storms. Gone forever.
Thirsty for a Glass of Water
In a Time of Drought, I imagined that a pantoum with its inherent cycles of repetition might help to convey the helplessness we’ve created by alienating ourselves from the earth. The poem comes from my third collection Screens. Inspired by Monday’s Café Muse poets, I made a little video showing what it might be like to be caught in a climate event like a super El Niño.
My thought for the week: Art is Activism.
Coming Up
Friday, May 8, 2026, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm. Bonnie Naradzay will be featured poet at Del Ray Poetry Reading, 2300 Mount Vernon Avenue (Alexandria, VA).
Wednesday, May 13th, 7:00 p.m.: Jewish Voices Through Poetry returns for its third annual celebration of Jewish Heritage Month, and Luther Jett will be among a group of poets reading their work. This year, the event will take place at the Silver Spring Library (recently re-named the Brigadier General Charles E. McGee Library) — 900 Wayne Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. The event is sponsored by the Silver Spring Town Center.
Saturday, May 16, 2026, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm , Poetry at New Deal Cafe will feature
poet: QUASAR. New Deal Cafe 113 Centerway Greenbelt, MD. Free with open mic.
Saturday, May 23rd, in the evening: Luther Jett will be performing a short set of songs during the annual Washington Grove CircleFest. My home town contains a range of talented musicians, so this should be a great evening. More information to come.
Have a reading or event coming up? Let me know and I’ll pass it along. And as always, feel free to email me with questions or comments at henrycrawfordpoetry@gmail.com. Use the subject “Coming Up” Stay creative!
If you’d like me to list an upcoming poetry event in Everyday Poet, please let me know by emailing me at henrycrawfordpoetry@gmail.com. Use the subject: “Coming Up”.