The scientist and the poet
Emilie Lygren
I watch a squirrel dig up
an acorn from the
vegetable garden, then
carry it away in her mouth.
Both scientist and poet
watch her furred body
coil along the fence line,
see the long tail flick
back and forth for balance,
wonder what the slick
cylindrical seed feels like
under tooth and tongue
and consider how acorns and
squirrels need one another
the way pulley needs rope,
imagine where the squirrel
might go next.
What else gets buried
and pulled back up
in a cloak of earth?
Fascination quickly
dream-cords its way
up to the clouds.
The sun’s magnetic
sway speaks to seeds
under the surface.
The language of
green cell splitting
into green cell
worthy of a thousand
questions, odes, love letters
written on paper pressed
from the very same blade.
The Science
This poem is concerned with the nature of science–– what science is and how it is done - rather than any specific scientific fact. As an outdoor science educator, I'm often in a role of encouraging students to make observations and ask questions, and I hope to emphasize that the capacity to be curious and figure things out is more important in science than is knowing a lot of facts. ‘The scientist and the poet’ offers a perspective on how this attitude of curiosity serves me as a scientist and as a poet. This poem ties into the theme ‘Structure’ because it speaks to the structure of science and poetry as disciplines. Also of the major ideas in science teaching today is Structure & Function - the concept that an object's shape and properties are connected to its function, or how it works. This poem references structure in the descriptions of the squirrel's tail and body, and the acorn.
The Poet
Emilie Lygren is a nonbinary poet and outdoor educator whose work emerges from the intersections between scientific observation and poetic wonder. Her first book of poetry, What We Were Born For, was chosen by the Young People’s Poet Laureate as the Poetry Foundation monthly book pick. Emilie has developed dozens of publications focused on nature journaling, outdoor science education, and social-emotional learning through her work at the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley. She has also worked as a mentor for teens, life coach, barista, and camp cook. Currently, Emilie wonders about oaks and teaches poetry in local classrooms in California.
Next poem: Trio: Formulae by Martin Markus