Poetry Prompt #77 – Wilderness

In his most recent chapbook, Kicking the Rain, R. G. Rader included a poem entitled “Let There Be A Wilderness.” The poem immediately struck me because the dialectic of the poet’s observation is so immediate and direct, and so filled with metaphorical meaning. Clearly, R. G. wasn’t thinking only about “wilderness” in a literal sense, but, rather, in a context of implied meanings that suggest relationship, tension, and the conflict between “safety” and risk-taking.” It’s a love poem that’s not exactly a love poem, it’s sensual and passionate in its defense of romanticism, and it tosses out a challenge to those who are afraid to explore the wilderness (or wildness) within themselves.


Let There Be A Wilderness

by R. G. Rader

Let there be a path leading out of sigh

And at its other end a temperate zone:

woods devoid of beasts, roads that please the foot

From “Against Romanticism” by Kingsley Amis

Let there be roads that hurt the feet

at places I travel – exotic

outside the temperate zone.

Let there be a wilderness

where I taste the pleasure of wild food

where the winter cold is cause for no clothing

and the soft cushion of summer grass

is softer still when you and I fall upon it.

Avoid the temperate zone

where little is safe from each hour’s boredom

and all the words are neatly packaged

into the pages of a book.

Let there be time to share

and to lose our  passion

and a way to find it again,

a space where wingless birds can fly

a place filled with beasts

who dare do battle.

Copyright © 2010 by R. G. Rader. Reprinted with the permission of the author.

From Kicking the Rain (Finishing Line Press, 2010) 

Click Cover to Order Kicking the Rain

Many see “wilderness” as a path to awakening, and it is deeply present in many of the world’s “wisdom” traditions. Wilderness is transcultural and transpiritual – shamans and mystics, sages and saints have gone into the wilderness to find inspiration and enlightenment. Jesus Christ and the Desert Fathers went into the desert; Buddha and Lao Tzu went into the forest. Thoreau went to Walden Pond, and in Emersonian transcendentalism, nature was created by a transcendent god for the benefit for humankind. These examples all beg the question, “What is it about wilderness (in any of its forms) that draws humankind to it?”

Wilderness may be understood as a way and as a tradition, and throughout history, “wilderness” has been strongly symbolic. Importantly, wilderness is never merely the untarnished forest, the crystal stream, the field of flowers; it is also tangled vines and exposed roots, rain and mud,  rocky places and poisonous berries. Wilderness is wild nature in all of its aspects, and it may be expanded to include human nature.

Okay, I’m sure you see where I’m going this week. Our prompt is “wilderness,” and the challenge is to write a poem that focuses on a personal wilderness experience, a wilderness insight, a wilderness “therapy,” or  “wilderness” as a metaphor. What we’re not looking for are “nature” poems (which I love dearly but not this week).

Examples:

"A Table in the Wilderness" by Li-Young Lee

"Wilderness" by Carl Sandburg

 "Across a Great Wilderness without You" by Keetje Kuipers

"If a Wilderness" by Carl Phillips

Before beginning to write consider these questions:

What’s your wilderness?

What has a wilderness taught you?

Where has a wilderness taken you?

What life experience can you describe in wilderness terms?

What does wilderness offer your senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)?

What specific wilderness images will you incorporate into your poem?