This feels especially relevant to me having grown up in Midwest America and seeing the monarchs take over in orange brilliance. It seemed like my entire neighborhood was full of milkweed just for them and town would be brimming as they grew up.
Now I am in the process of wilding a good portion of my backyard to accommodate as many native creatures as I can. To fight this, we must think of the small spaces. And my small space will be a haven if I can help it!
Thank you for writing and for sharing it with us. The present & future looks grim, but we can still make change. And stories like this and the rest of Future of Nature series will help us get back to a better state.
Thanks so much. I’m glad you enjoyed the reading. It’s something I do for most of my work, certainly all my novels. I always learn something more about my writing when I read it out loud.
This so beautiful and haunting, Ben! The pain of losing this beautiful planet on which we live, this miracle of the universe is unbearable. You've expressed with so much emotion.
I know, it’s grim. I put off writing this assignment because I knew it would be grim. As good as my imagination is, I couldn’t write an optimistic picture of the future when it comes to climate.
I hear you. I couldn’t have, either. Also, and, I’m referencing a different post now, which is probably against the’ stack rules, but, I’m still smiling at how kind it was of your daughter to go back to that stall...
Poignant and beautiful, Ben. This is not the hopes and dreams we could ever have envisioned for future generations . This is not the gift we meant to leave. Yet we move ever closer like a moth to a flame.
Hopefully this won't be what my young daughter will be telling her child... Beautiful, Ben, and haunting. It breaks my heart to think that not-so-future generations may indeed not be able to experience nature the way we still can.
Wow Ben, that last paragraph!! Stunning and powerful.
Thanks, Nathan. 🙏
This feels especially relevant to me having grown up in Midwest America and seeing the monarchs take over in orange brilliance. It seemed like my entire neighborhood was full of milkweed just for them and town would be brimming as they grew up.
Now I am in the process of wilding a good portion of my backyard to accommodate as many native creatures as I can. To fight this, we must think of the small spaces. And my small space will be a haven if I can help it!
Thank you for writing and for sharing it with us. The present & future looks grim, but we can still make change. And stories like this and the rest of Future of Nature series will help us get back to a better state.
Hi Jamie, thanks for reading and for sharing a little bit about your life. I’m glad this piece resonated with you.
Wow. Short and impactful. And I love hearing your voice with cadence and intonation you intended.
Thanks so much. I’m glad you enjoyed the reading. It’s something I do for most of my work, certainly all my novels. I always learn something more about my writing when I read it out loud.
Wonderful, a moving and thought provoking piece. Love the ending too
Thank you, Kate. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
This so beautiful and haunting, Ben! The pain of losing this beautiful planet on which we live, this miracle of the universe is unbearable. You've expressed with so much emotion.
Thank you, friend. I had hoped that I would come up with some kind of positive vision for the future. That’s why I delayed for so long.
Self-imposed expectations, right? We write what we see and experience in this world. I’m happy you listened to your heart.
I'm with Nathan. The entirety is gorgeous, but that last part...oof. It's going to take me a moment to recover...
I know, it’s grim. I put off writing this assignment because I knew it would be grim. As good as my imagination is, I couldn’t write an optimistic picture of the future when it comes to climate.
I hear you. I couldn’t have, either. Also, and, I’m referencing a different post now, which is probably against the’ stack rules, but, I’m still smiling at how kind it was of your daughter to go back to that stall...
It’s definitely against the rules. You will be cast out of Substacklandia for such blasphemy.
Don’t report me, I beg
Such tender words Ben, I wish they didn't feel so true... 💚
Thank you, Susie. Me too.
"knew and squandered" yes, exactly. very good, Ben, very sad. thanks for writing.
Thanks, Joseph.
Poignant and beautiful, Ben. This is not the hopes and dreams we could ever have envisioned for future generations . This is not the gift we meant to leave. Yet we move ever closer like a moth to a flame.
Thanks, Lor. It's true, climate change is like a steamroller that we can't seem to outrun.
Oh shivers. This is stunning Ben!
Thank you, Kimberly. ❤️
Hopefully this won't be what my young daughter will be telling her child... Beautiful, Ben, and haunting. It breaks my heart to think that not-so-future generations may indeed not be able to experience nature the way we still can.
Thank you, Sara. It really breaks my heart too. Nature was such an integral part of my childhood and remains so important to me.
Ben, you broke my heart. so melancholic and beautiful 💔
Aw, thank you, Emily. I’m looking forward to digging into your story and all the rest.
Evocative, Ben. And beautiful.
This made me think of what beauty may not exist when my son is the same age as I am now. Haunting.
Thank you, Nick. It is kind of a sobering and terrifying notion.
So lovely.
Thank you, Kara.
I'm late to the party, which ironically is what this poem is about. Sobering, but beautiful in emotional impact.
Now I'm craving the scent of honeysuckle. Great piece 👏🏻