Prodigal FlowersTen Ecopoemsby Mario Petrucci

These poems by ecopoet and environmentalist Mario Petrucci offer a series of remarkable encounters with the natural world. They question and warn, while finding wonder and beauty amid the sobering realities of climate change. The flowers may seem “prodigal” but it’s their vulnerability that sharpens the poet’s attention.

We look through both ends of the telescope to view the intricate lives of plants and insects as vividly as the abstract grandeur of the cosmos. Sometimes the two come together; here, rare seeds are akin to stars:

“Each tiny face has its look:
the black-shiny.  The varnishy-brown.
The specks too – it’s like telling stars
apart, rolling them thumb to palm.”

from ‘Seedwoman’

The vigour of Petrucci’s language shows us the world as a place that is intensely, though precariously, alive. He is a scientist as well as a poet, and these heady encounters are energised by that juxtaposition.

“Mario’s poems pull no punches – they will intrigue, delight, terrify and provoke at every level of emotion, learning and action.” The Poetry Society (World Environment Day).