Daring to Hope at the Cliff's Edge

Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland’s “narrative poem seeks to align literary studies, ecology, and paleontology to explore relationships between facts and artefacts, between faithfully narrating the past and thoughtfully influencing the future.” The setting is the Joggins Fossil Cliffs: a paleontological treasure on the Bay of Fundy in Atlantic Canada. The author deftly weaves the elements of “witness, wisdom, and warning” into her poetry to create a conduit that gives voice to the Earth and its history — sounding deep alarm at the consequences of ignoring the ever-increasing and dire cries of our planet.