Gerard Sarnat
Momentous mourning one morning
post sawing down 4 more Sequoias
the family planted from seedlings
when we moved into an oak grove
cabin 35 years ago but which
beloved trees fire marshals plus
our naturalist son sadly agreed needed
to be removed: that same evening 103
year-old Mom’s finally felled, my wife
said, You snored/ whimpered all night.
There is every good reason to lose
sleep over destroying those redwoods.
The forest is alive in so many ways
we really just do not consider enough,
and killing it ends up killing ourselves.
Gerard Sarnat MD’s won San Francisco Poetry’s Contest, Poetry in Arts First Place Award/Dorfman Prizes. Nominated for Pushcarts/Best of Net Awards, Gerry’s published in Hong Kong Review, Tokyo Journal, Buddhist Review, Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, Arkansas Review, Hamilton-Stone Review, New Haven Institute, Texas Review, Vonnegut Journal, Brooklyn Review, SF Magazine, LA Review, NY Times plus by Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Penn, Chicago, Columbia presses. He’s authored collections Homeless Chronicles, Disputes, 17s, Melting Ice King. Stanford professor/healthcare CEO, Gerry’s built/staffed clinics for the marginalized, devoted energy/resources toward climate justice on Climate-Action-Now’s board. Married since 1969, Gerry’s nine grand/kids.
Old Water Rat Publishing 