Poet Sage Marshall is a Colorado native and avid outdoorsman. He entered poetry through the side door of outdoor journalism. He reads “On Perspective” about a awestruck day in the Amazon.
Sage Marshall: I grew up in the mountains in southwest Colorado and, honestly, I don't think I really appreciated them until I left to go to college in Connecticut and realized how much I missed being in the mountains and being able to spend time outside. So then once I became an adult, it became pretty central to who I was and what I liked to do.
I find a lot of peace in the outdoors and being able to disconnect a bit from not just digital materials, but from everyday life. And in terms of the outdoor pursuits that are pretty central to my work and my life, I think, there's a certain element of that peacefulness there, but there's also the ability to push myself and challenge myself physically, intellectually and with things like hunting and fly fishing, also emotionally.
I certainly didn't know I wanted to be a writer for a while. For my most of my boyhood and adolescence all I wanted to be was a hockey player, not a writer. And at the same time, I think I was maybe a little bit internally conflicted because I loved reading and I loved English class, and my teachers and friends always praised my writing.
And so I was almost a reluctant writer for a while. Not reluctant in that I didn't like writing or that I didn't love reading, but that I just had this dream of being a professional hockey player and that it wasn't really working out for me.
So, I eventually started really gravitating towards English and writing. I wanted to be a writer, I think, for longer than I was able to admit it to myself. It took me a little while to admit to myself that dream.
On Perspective
I did not know
this place existed
now I am here
atop Cerrado
lung of the Amazon
long way from Colorado
though the sandstone is the same
first we hear them
screech jagged
from down valley
three macaws
two scarlet
one azul
flown from cliff-side nests
beyond
they circle above one
then go
we sit against the edge
as sombra take one half
then more
yes
I did not know
now I am here
the valley burns red
with alpenglow
& now I know
I will never understand
the scale of this world
blazing with life.
About the author:
Sage Marshall is a poet, essayist, and outdoors journalist from southwest Colorado. He’s an avid skier, backpacker, duck hunter and fly fisherman, and is a contributing writer and former editor of Field & Stream. His debut collection of poetry is called Echolocation.
About the host:
Steven Law is the co-producer of KNAU’s series PoetrySnaps! He is a poet, essayist, storyteller, and the author of Polished, a collection of poems about exploring the Colorado Plateau by foot and by raft.
About the music:
Original music by the Flagstaff-based band Pilcrowe.
Poetry Snaps is produced by KNAU Arizona Public Radio. This is the final segment of Poetry Snaps. Thanks so much for a great two years of bringing the voices of the region’s poets to ears of northern Arizona.
