THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America

Dr. Edward O. Wilson, world-renowned Harvard entomologist and two-time Pulitzer-Prize winning author, points out in the epigraph to this unique collection of poetry, "...the better an ecosystem is known, the less likely it will be destroyed." This is the premise of "THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America" and why author Bill McKibben says in the book's foreword, "These magnificent poems work as a chant to summon more" of the love to save the endangered from extinction. It's also why writer Susan Cerulean has called the book an "important manifesto: a must-read for our times." A helpful feature of the anthology is the species notes that accompany the poems each time a new species is introduced. For example, when readers encounter Minnesota poet Shirley S. Stevens's poem "On Spotting a Pygmy Owl," they also learn: "The endangered cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum, of the U.S. Southwest and Mexico, numbered only 12 birds when it was listed in the U.S. in 1997. A USF&WS recovery team began its work to rescue the species in 1998, but its fate remains precarious." ContentsForeword: Regarding the Frog and Our Real Selves, Bill McKibbenPreface: A Righteous Case for the 1,277, Karla Linn Merrifield, Roger M. WeirEpigraph, E. O. WilsonIn the BeginningRoll Call, North American, Chris NormentA Bestiary of Continuous Extinctions, Steven HuffI.Grizzly, Michele F. CooperYou Are in Bear Country, Maxine KuminIn Concert, Jen EddyLoss, Dennis FritzingerKilled by the Bear, John HutchinsonTreat Each Bear, Gary Lawlessand much, much more!