Nature Poem

By: Tommy Pico

Narrated by: Tommy Pico

A book-length poem about how an American Indian writer can't bring himself to write about nature, but is forced to reckon with colonial-white stereotypes, manifest destiny, and his own identity as an young, queer, urban-dwelling poet.

Nature Poem follows Teebs - a young, queer, American Indian (or NDN) poet - who can't bring himself to write a nature poem. For the reservation-born, urban-dwelling hipster, the exercise feels stereotypical, reductive, and boring. He hates nature. He prefers city lights to the night sky. He'd slap a tree across the face. He'd rather write a mountain of hashtag punchlines about death and give head in a pizza-parlor bathroom; he'd rather write odes to Aretha Franklin and Hole.

While he's adamant - bratty, even - about his distaste for the word "natural," over the course of the book we see him confronting the assimilationist, historical, colonial-white ideas that collude NDN people with nature. The closer his people were identified with the "natural world," he figures, the easier it was to mow them down like the underbrush. But Teebs gradually learns how to interpret constellations through his own lens, along with human nature, sexuality, language, music, and Twitter.

Even while he reckons with manifest destiny and genocide and centuries of disenfranchisement, he learns how to have faith in his own voice.

©2017 Tommy Pico (P)2020 Tantor

Even better read by the author

I had read this book of poetry before and adored it, but it's even better hearing the author perform it. He made me laugh and also you could tell what parts he put the most feeling into. Excellent.

Keep up with the fire!

It's the beautiful cover that is the disconnect. I went in thinking this was going to be some mysterious and flowing piece of work. It was an entirely different piece of work, making it possibly off-putting (at first) as you expect a different story. But I have listened three times now, and I love it! A bright, colorful cover would ring solid in finding the right audience. Tommy Pico sure does express himself with bold colors. I enjoyed it! I look forward to hearing more.

Atrocious

These are not poems about nature. they are poems about profanity. this is definitely not a book for children and I do not think most adults would like it either. I was only able to read a couple of chapters but that was enough. the entire book as far as I'm concerned is a piece of trash garbage.