Barrens
Barrens, emptiness—
the absence of things.
Pictures in books,
names with no bearing
and scarcity misunderstood.
Withering, wrought
with the insatiable
need to grow.
Plagued with
the allusion of plenty:
aisles of abundance,
each learning
what they truly
need.
Nathan Pirie
Nathan Pirie is a writer and storyteller based in Southern Ontario, Canada. He is a co-founder of the bilingual, serial publication Artis Natura and the founder of Highwind Press, an emerging publishing company. His writing tends to focus on the conservation of nature and the interconnectivity of life on Earth, but he has retained his childhood passion for epic fantasy and otherworldly stories.
Twitter: @PlumesFromPirie
www.artisnatura.com
https://highwindpress.ca
About This Poem
Barrens was first drafted as a scribbled note while waiting in the parking lot of a grocery store shortly after the lockdown began. Seeing abundant store shelves picked clean and the panic of those initial few weeks, I was reflecting on the things we need versus the things we have grown accustomed to seeing and how important of a distinction that has become.