A Ground of Hope
to Stand On

by Eugene David

28 poems - 47 pages

Summer/Fall 2005

Copyright © 2005 by David Eugene Partch

I wrote this collection of poems with a specific intent. In part I wanted to give poetic expression to many of the ideas written by Wendell Berry in his essays that struggle to find a meaningful path to supercede the morally and culturally bankrupt situation mankind finds itself in. I do not share all of Berry's opinions and convictions, but I have received profound inspiration from his writings. The poems also echo the need for sustainable culture as prescribed most explicitly by the followers of Permaculture. And, in my own way, I am trying to evolve a language of expression that could point us in a direction that will enable us to create a culture of the future that hopefully will recapture the sacred respect for mother earth that our ancestors once had and that many indigenous peoples still maintain. This would be a culture that would somehow outgrow the limitations of our dualistic and materialistic mind-set. We cannot go "back" to or attempt to steal their culture, but we can develop our own. And we need to do so quickly. I hope that these poems will serve as inspiration for that process.

Some words of praise and support:

"I appreciate your kindness and your advocacy."
---Wendell Berry (in a letter to the author)

"...the best espresso poet/philosopher I know."
---Marvin R. Hiemstra (co-editor of Bay Area Poets Quarterly Review)

"'Let us leave our laziness behind' - that's a good credo for making some change in this strained age. These poems are full of good lines and good ideas."
---Bill McKibben (author of "The End of Nature")

"May these words ignite passion, commitment, and action in the reader."
---Julia "Butterfly" Hill (tree-sitter par excellence, author of "Legacy of Luna" and founder of Circle of Life)

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