Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Officer

Peering out of my window in the office today, the snow is starting to melt and the sun is streaming across our desks. It is certainly warming my heart, if not my red fingertips that have been pinched by the frosty air on my walk in. It is amazing what such a dramatic change in weather can do to your perspective though. With roads covered in inches of clean, white, fluffy snow last week, the world felt smaller. Like a simpler place to exist, a charming, quiet world where everything slows down to a more dreamy pace of life. It never ceases to amaze me how the natural world can keep inspiring us in this way; the feelings that it evokes and the sentiments it encourages. Do you think people become more romantic or childlike when it snows, more carefree when the sun shines, or more  sensitive when it’s raining?  You only have to look in any modern day fiction, Shakespearean play or poem from the ‘classics’ to see how much we’ve been inspired by the natural world and the changing seasons.

Hopefully, nature will continue to inspire creativity for decades to come, but we can’t escape the sobering fact that it is facing some of its biggest challenges yet. 

So, the RSPB is also getting in touch with its emotional side! We’ve launched our first ever nature poetry competition, in conjunction with award-winning poetry publisher, The Rialto, to encourage you all to express why the great outdoors is so special. Most importantly, we want you to share your passion for the environment in whatever form of verse you fancy.   If sonnets and stanzas are not your thing, why not go for a limerick or a haiku?

But, what is Nature Poetry? Well, the judges, former Poet Laureate, Sir Andrew Motion and the leading Nature Writer, Mark Cocker will give this pretty a wide interpretation. Your poems  won’t have to be just about bitterns or badgers, pied wagtails or polar bears. Most people have walked in their local park, felt the roughness of a leaf or the heft of a stone and know how it can change a mood or express a feeling. You might just have to put pen to paper and see what comes to you!

As well as offering poets the chance to win a cash prize and publication of their poems, the competition will raise vital money for conservation. Full details and the facility to enter online can be found The Rialto website here: www.therialto.co.uk/pages/the-magazine/nature-poetry-competition-2012/ If you would prefer to enter by post, that’s fine too, just get in touch with Matt Howard at our Norwich office on 01603 697515 or email at  matt.howard@rspb.org.uk to request an entry form.

Photo Credit: Adam Murray