by Matt Sowerby
Two years ago, shortly before I joined the programmes team at The Resilience Project, I had the joy of attending a training with the Climate Psychology Alliance on how to facilitate a Climate Cafe Listening Circle (CCLC). CCLCs are spaces where those who feel alive to the urgency of our various climate, ecological, and political crises can come together to express and explore those feelings. While the things said and heard in CCLCs aren’t always easy, it is amazing how powerful it can feel to be seen and heard by other people who ‘get it’.
One of the activities in the CCLC is to find a natural object that speaks to you about your feelings about the climate crisis, and to share it with the group. Natural objects are inherently calming. They are also — as poets have long demonstrated — inherently useful for speaking to and about the rich complexity of our emotions. I was struck by the simple power of this new ritual — how nature was providing a language for navigating the crises of our times. I wrote this poem that same evening.
Climate Cafe Listening Circle
By Matt Sowerby
We gather on zoom
all dying and beautiful and killing each other,
worrying metaphors between our fingertips.
flint, ammonite, sheep vertebra,
owl feather, dog hair, cactus,
reaching for the wild things around us,
trying to find the language
antler, begonia cutting, pumpkin seeds,
hag stone, sea glass, sugarcane,
My turn. I tell them all about my life —
how normal it is, for a time
when normal is violent. How I need
normal and how it suffocates me.
oyster shell, snapdragon, frond of fennel,
snail shell, driftwood, bleached brain coral,
And after we’ve all spoken,
someone in Belgium tells everyone
she wants to cook for me.
How ordinary, she says. How extraordinary
this has been: the quiet open heart, trembling.
We drink the silence,
watching the timer in the corner of the screen run out.
Author's Bio
Matt Sowerby is a writer, poet, facilitator, and environmental activist, working to find hopeful approaches to living in a climate crisis. He is the Youth Programmes Lead (Europe) at The Resilience Project, a youth-led organisation helping young climate changemakers find their peace, their power, and their people. His essay ‘Hope is the thing with flippers’ won 2024 Nature Chronicles Prize.
As a performance poet, Matt has earned the titles of 2018 National Youth Slam Champion & 2023 National University Slam Champion. He has performed in the Houses of Parliament & on BBC Radio 3, and his work has been exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. He is also the Climate Action Lead on the National Trust’s Regional Advisory Group (North England).
A note on Climate Cafe Listening Circles
CCLCs are gentle, supportive spaces designed for honest conversation about the emotional impact of the climate and ecological crisis. CPA hosts regular online CCLCs, as well as workshops to train CCLC facilitators who wish to bring this work into their own community.
You'll find details about upcoming events CPA below, and head to our calendar to find local events run by CPA trained facilitators. Read more.
