"I don't really distinguish between science and poetry; they're kind of like two different languages," said Peter Munro, a fisheries scientist and writer.
"Hard Weather Prayers" reveals his fluency in both languages. The 15-section poetic sequence finds a metaphor for spiritual alienation in the harsh weather of southeast Alaska, an area Munro knows first-hand from growing up in Sitka, as well as his field work at sea.
I studied the names of those creatures that stayed alive by hiding or clamping down or building walls or by taking phrases of camouflage into their skins from "Prelude"
You can read all of "Hard Weather Prayers" at Munro's website.
Web Extras
Munro reads "Requiem" from "Hard Weather Prayers."
[asset-audio[{"description": "", "fid": "6885", "uri": "public://201310/20131007MunroRequiem.mp3"}]]Munro reads "Names" from "Hard Weather Prayers."
[asset-audio[{"description": "", "fid": "6886", "uri": "public://201310/20131007MunroNames.mp3"}]]"Prelude" was originally published in Nimrod; "Requiem" and "Names" appeared in Poetry magazine. Munro was a 2013 Jack Straw Writer, and his reading from "Hard Weather Prayers" was recorded Oct. 4, 2013 in the KUOW studios.
