Ten Poems About Soil

Soil, earth, clay, sod, clod: there’s no shortage of one-syllable words for the stuff that gets behind our fingernails and sticks to our wellies.  And it’s strangely enjoyable to say these words out loud – as if they remind us of childhood and sitting in the dirt to make mud pies.

This mini-anthology delights in all things earthy, including those often unseen creatures like moles and worms who live and work underground.  There are also poems celebrating the human toil of keeping soil in good order and the satisfaction this brings:

“The sense that we have brought to birth
Out of the cold and heavy soil,
These blessed fruits and flowers of earth…”

from ‘The Diehards’ by Ruth Pitter