Wendell Berry, a truly wise man, died at age 92 on August 31. Let’s let him speak for himself on the topic of death right off. The following 4 part poem is from his book The Country of Marriage: Testament 1. Dear relatives and friends, when my last breath Grows large and free in air, don’t call it death — A word to enrich the undertaker and inspire His surly art of imitating life; conspire Against him. Say that my body cannot now Be improved upon; it has no fault to show To t

Wendell Berry: An Invitation Into Seeing by NanLeah The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's August 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

Dear Poetic Medicine Friends, Gathered here are essays, poems, photographs given to me by those who in very significant ways helped with the visit of Diné Elder, Lupita McClanahan from Canyon de Chelly in Arizona to Mountain View and Carmel Valley, CA. Lupita’s talks, The Path of Hozho-Teachings of the Beauty Way In Difficult Times, brought together many people thirsty for sane, spiritual reflections and direct experience of what it is to live on this earth in a conscious and

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's July 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's June 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's May 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's February 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

This letter is one of a monthly series available to Poetry of Nature subscribers.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's January 2026 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's December 2025 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.

If a line or phrase resonates with you, we invite you to use it as a starting point to create your own poem. We welcome you to share your poem with the IPM community here. This poem was included in IPM's November 2025 Newsletter. Access the full Newsletter here.