Sometimes, when all else fails, what I really need is a good poem. Others apparently agree.
On Saturday, March 26, from 1 to 3:30 p.m., poets and others will gather at the Arts Block, 289 Main St. in Greenfield, for “Poets Against the Pipeline,” an event designed to give people a chance to meet and share information in advance of two public hearings on the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s proposed Northeast Energy Direct pipeline project.
“And hear some poems,” said Wendell poet Paul Richmond, one of the event’s organizers.
“Why poems?” I asked, fulfilling my journalistic duty. The poet in me already knew.
“The idea is that writers can capture the essence of things and then others, hearing their work, can get motivated and inspired,” Richmond answered.
Poets can act as “witness/provocateurs,” Richmond added. “And I’m just trying to help support that. I’m seen as someone who can make these events happen.”
Richmond said he was approached for help in organizing the event by Leverett poet Don Ogden, whose book, “Bad Atmosphere: A Collection of Poetry & Prose on the Climate Crisis,” has been a subject of this column.
Ogden and others wanted to create an opportunity for people to meet and to share thoughts and information about pipeline issues, and about environmental issues in general. The event isn’t meant as a forum for political speeches, according to the Poets Against the Pipeline Facebook page.
Richmond said it’s more about helping community members be well informed so they can be part of the decision making process. It’s also a means to consolidate efforts being made in various towns that would be affected by the pipeline’s construction. The event is timed to build awareness of two upcoming public hearings and give people the information they might need to participate.
The two Department of Public Utility hearings will be held March 29, 7 p.m. at Berkshire Community College’s Boland Theater in Pittsfield, and March 30, 7 p.m. at Greenfield Middle School.
The subject of these meetings will be a TGP petition that, if approved, would require landowners to provide access to more than 400 private properties so TGP can conduct surveys to gather geotechnical and other information in support of its pipeline project.
Recorder articles by reporter Tom Relihan and others have outlined opponents’ concerns about the pipeline, including its impact on sensitive wetlands, air and water quality, and potential light pollution from a proposed compressor station in Northfield. Because it would pass through fields, pastures and orchards, opponents have also maintained that the pipeline would adversely affect the livelihoods of local farmers, Richmond said.
TGP claims the pipeline project is in the public interest, a designation that could allow the company to seize private property by eminent domain. Opponents have disputed the need for the pipeline and questioned TGP’s financial motives.
In a Recorder article published February 5, Relihan wrote, “Opponents have said they believe the pipeline’s expected capacity — up to 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day — is much larger than the region needs and that the true intent is to export the gas. That, they claim, could expose the gas to global commodity markets and drive up the price, not reduce it.”
Richmond anticipates that poets will read in three-minute slots for 15- or 20-minute intervals, alternating with informational speakers. Various groups including No Fracked Gas in Mass (www.nofrackedgasinmass.org) and Citizens Awareness Network, or CAN, (www.nukebusters.org) will have informational tables set up. Coffee, tea and locally made desserts will be available.
“So come by and have some coffee and something to eat, and hear some poems,” Richmond said.
Poems need not address the pipeline specifically, he added. “They could be about our general sense of how we want to be treating this earth.”
Anyone wishing to read poems, set up an informational table or present information onstage, please get in touch with Richmond at: paul@humanerrorpublishing.com
For more information, search for “Poets Against the Pipeline” on Facebook.
Trish Crapo is a writer and photographer who lives in Leyden. Crapo is seeking published poets for her column. She’s interested in books written by a Franklin County poet and/or published by a Franklin County press. She can be reached at: tcrapo@me.com