How do you describe nature? Two poets help us

In this Earth Day special, Science Friday explores how poets capture the ineffable beauty and profound emotional weight of nature through language. Host Flora Lichtman invites listeners to share their favorite natural places, from the woods near Traverse City to a desert canyon in Zion, and then brings on two acclaimed poets—Jane Hirshfield and Kimberly Blazer—to discuss the art of translating sensory experiences into poetry. They emphasize that poetry begins with deep attention, embraces mystery, and invites readers into the space between what can be known and what cannot. Both poets highlight the importance of restraint, metaphor, and the 'gesture' of the unsaid, using examples like a geological crack in the earth as a symbol of both revelation and personal fracture. The conversation deepens as they reflect on how poetry, like science, is an act of inquiry—but while science seeks answers, poetry embraces unanswerable questions, offering a 'momentary stay against confusion.' A poignant call from a Pennsylvania listener, mourning the impending loss of her ancestral land to mining, underscores poetry’s power to hold both beauty and grief. The episode closes with a moving poem by Hirshfield about redwoods reclaiming a logged landscape, symbolizing resilience and the quiet, persistent presence of nature.