Sher Poetry

2 responses to ““To a Siberian Woodsman” by Wendell Berry (1934- 2026) read by Sher Schwartz”

1. 

   taconia

   October 19, 2026 at 8:59 pm

   Knowing what we have lost is useful history. Ignoring and condemning what we have gained is living in a fantasy of the past. Berry was a good story teller, a good artist of character, but he could afford to glorify the past and praise what he did not have to deal with in his own life as a well paid writer and academic. Yes, agri-business has made most small farms an impossible source of livelihood.(I ran a small organic farm for 3 years and know the economics.) What Berry ignores is that the economies of scale made possible cheaper food, the elimination of widespread famines. Migration from farm to city separated Americans from the basics of agriculture and rural life, but it brought them to better education and medical care. Let us not forget the devastation of the South’s caused by red clay small farms and hillside plowing. Let us not forget that the tractor replaced the horse and we no longer needed 2 acres of clear cut to sustain each horse. Let’s also acknowledge that every farm, small or large, is a clear cut on which a farmer must kill many species, from insects to deer and birds. Modern pesticides have their problems, but nothing like the arsenic compounds popular in 19th and early 20th C farming. Berry had good reason to want his unspoiled Kentucky family farm and for almost 60 years I’ve enjoyed my homes in wild places. I understand. I’ve also traveled and worked in Central America, Central Asia, and Siberia. I remember very well being shocked when Mayan friends told me they didn’t want to grow corn and beans and would rather work for Nestle’s soup or cereal factory in Antigua where they had running water and sanitation and steady income and maternity leave. Enjoy Berry but keep his limitations in mind.

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   1. 

      Sher Schwartz

      October 20, 2026 at 11:30 am

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts and perspectives in such a detailed and well thought out way. Your writing shows the complexity behind Berry’s message. The longer I live, the more I am fully convinced nothing is black and white and so many causes and needs are behind any particular societal problem. Your post reminds we of this. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. p.s. Also I was reminded I have not read Berry’s nonfiction works on small farms and rural life in America. I have only read his poetry.

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