Ann Batchelor Hursey
Ann Hursey’s first poem, Wetland, rode the bus in 1997. Today, as a Writing the Land poet, she speaks for oak prairies, salt marshes, and riparian restoration. Her poems celebrate the resilience of our planet’s diversity during climate change. Her work appears online and in print journals as well as anthologies.
2024 Jack Straw Alumni Poetry Series:
“Field Notes to Maya Lin’s Confluence Project Landscapes is a reflective and expansive melding of prose and poetry. Thoughtfully considered elements of the historical record and ruminations of the author’s positionality and history appear in intriguing and insightful patterns alongside constellations of precise imagery.”
-Laura Da’
Site 05: Listening Circle, Chief Timothy Park, Clarkson, WA (p.43, excerpt)
Insects jump and sail
into the air between chirps
of unseen birds
Slight breeze cools us down
Low stone benches perfect
to sit, listen, heed
Its timeless message
Of river, land and people—
Nez Perce – Niimiipuu
At the Listening Circle, I read the words Lin transcribed from the Nez Perce Blessing Ceremony. These instructions are carved into the lowest of the benches shaped in arcs, three rows on one side and three on the other, like ripples on water. These long stone benches, half face north, half face south.
Women sit facing north
Men sit facing south
Elders sit facing west
And NO ONE IS TO WALK BEHIND THEM
The east is left open to greet the new day
I orient myself to the sun and . . .and listen to what this place has to say.
Below deep blue skies
feel the pulse of this island’s
heartbeat pumping.
