"The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see.""When I write 'paradise' I mean not only apple trees and golden women but also scorpions and tarantulas and flies, rattlesnakes and Gila monsters, sandstorms, volcanoes and earthquakes, bacteria and bear, cactus, yucca, bladderweed, ocotillo and mesquite, flash floods and quicksand, and yes — disease and death and the rotting of flesh."
"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread."
"I am not an atheist but an earthiest."
All quotations from Down the River (1982)
I previously posted a poem by John Haines on your comments and will follow up with an Abbey quote on John Haines :
ReplyDelete"What's the best book about Alaska?... "Winter News", I say, by John Haines--pure poetry; and by 'pure' I mean poetry about ordinary things, about the great weather, about daily living experience."
--Edward Abbey, 'Gather at the River,' in "Beyond the Wall" (1984)
Wow Northland, this is great. Thank you. I don't know how I've missed John Haines in my literary excursions, but I intend to remedy that omission thanks to you.
ReplyDeletePeace