But Bio Chary
Immensely fertile Amazonian loam,
terra preta was formed either intentionally
or by circumstance in indigenous
communities millennia ago.
Upon examination, that dirt was found
to contain charcoal, pottery shards,
scraps of food, bones and (let’s speak
plainly) human plus animal shit.
In other words, it got created by/within/beneath
kitchen middens well as trash heaps
then later, by purposefully mixing biomass
with compost into depleted soil.
The decomposed garbage char
fostered unbelievably rich fecundity
for growing diverse crops
to nourish otherwise poor farmers’ families.
Referred to as “the lungs of the planet”,
with deforestation exacerbating drought,
this corrupted organ, which once supplied 20% of the
world’s fresh water, now emits more CO2 than captured.
-Gerard Sarnat
Gerard Sarnat MD’s authored HOMELESS CHRONICLES (2010), Disputes, 17s, Melting Ice King (2016). Gerry’s published by Gargoyle, Oberlin, Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, American Journal Of Poetry, Poetry Quarterly, Brooklyn Review, LA Review, San Francisco Magazine, New York Times. MountAnalogue selected KADDISH for distribution nationwide Inauguration Day.