Symbiocene

Sue Dymoke

This is our final era
unless we human
beings accept
responsibility for Earth
impose radical changes on our
blinkered existence, so
all citizens keep
on high alert to
clean the oceans and end plastic
dependency. Through creative
community action
we could still nurture hope

The Science

The idea behind this poem originates in Glenn Albrecht’s work and links closely with the symbiosis theme of this Consilience issue. We currently live in the non-sustainable Anthropocene, an unpredictable era of rapid change and climatic chaos. Albrecht proposes the next potential period as the Symbiocene, an era in which humans would no longer assume mastery of the planet but would respect all living organisms. My poem combines acrostic and mesostic elements, visually enacting a shift from burning Anthropocene to cooler Symbiocene and showing starkly that the Earth will end with the Anthropocene unless decisive action is taken.

The Poet

Sue Dymoke is an Associate Professor of Education at Nottingham Trent University where she researches young people's poetry writing development. Alongside her research, she has published three full collections, including What They Left Behind (2018, Shoestring Press), and worked on creative projects, such as a virtual poet-in-residency for Melbourne, Australia UNESCO City of Literature (2021-22) and ‘Poetry Place’ , a workshop/exhibition series drawing on archive photographs of the Sherwood Forest mining district that toured major Nottinghamshire libraries (2021 -2023). She composed the science poems ‘DNA Time’ with Pietro Roversi and Ginger Zinger with Stephen Paul Wren. More info at suedymokepoetry.com.

Next poem: The gut microbiome: a symbiotic relationship with humans by Jane Flint Bridgewater