Adrie Rose reads a selection of work along with her Pushcart-nominated poem, “The Anthropocene” (4:00), which appears in Witness Magazine’s Fall/Winter 2020 Issue. Rose’s poem became a prescient mantra for the work we selected in this season of pre- and full-pandemic lockdown. Where she writes “The seasons / are coming loose,” we caught a glimmer of what would become the present predicament; Rose’s work made us aware of the long-standing balance between our intrinsic connection to time, routine, and our understanding of things, and the impossible and absolute isolation we would face in days ahead–this poem an ode to the confusing role we play in this new era of human activity, dangers that we didn’t know abound. We were honored to have this work among our first acceptances.

Adrie Rose writes, works with herbs, and organizes for Extinction Rebellion in occupied Nipmuck and Pocumtuc territory. Her work has previously appeared in Rebelle Society, Plum, Peregrine, Albatross, The Essential Herbal, Poetry Breakfast, and Ibbetson Street Review. Her poem “In the Liminal” was awarded second place in the Robert P. Colleen Poetry Competition. She studied creative writing at Bennington College and the SC Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities, and is currently a student at Smith College.

Instagram: @gladheartherbals