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Forest action poetry has a long
history in Australia, where forest activists are often referred to as
blockaders. Poetry with a strong save-the-forests theme probably first
appeared in a publication by the (then) Tasmanian Wilderness Society
called "The West Wind and Other Verses for the Tasmanian Bush"
was in 1980. A sequel, "Forest Echoes and Other Verses for
The Tasmanian Bush" published in 1988.
No collection of forest
activists verse has yet been prepared in Australia, here though we present
a selection of verse as a gesture in this direction.
In 1998, the American Warrior Poets
Society published
"Earth First! Campfire
Poems", a collection of about 150 poems to come out of the direct
action campaigns to save the American wilderness lands over the last 20
years.
These poems
form part of the "eco-warrior" poetry ethic of the
Earth
First! environmental protest movement.
A selection of
these is reproduced here.
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