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‘Poems are empathy machines’
CHRISTINA THATCHER believes poetry can carry an emotional charge that deepens awareness and comprehension of issues like climate change
POETIC EVOCATION: A Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) carried by Extinction Rebellion protesters past the Science Museum in London

I DISCOVERED Ellen Bass’s poem, Birdsong from My Patio, during the first British lockdown.

My garden hedge was stuffed with sparrows who seemed to always be singing. I expected to see and hear them in this poem too and, at first, I did: “I’ve never heard this much song, trills pure as crystal bells.”

However, images of “acid rain,” “pesticides,” “contaminated insects” and “thin-shelled eggs” moved swiftly in.

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