All About Nature

Not for sale


All About Nature
By Kira Hoffman, age11

May the redwoods, oaks, evergreens, and pine trees
help us to breathe fresh air.

May the deer, elk, raccoons, badgers, blue tanagers, moose,
otters, wolves, owls, frogs, toads, snakes, worms, and turkeys
give us meat to eat so we can stay healthy and have protein.

May the thunder, lightning, and rainstorms
give water to the earth, because animals, trees, and soil
need water to live.

May the hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes
make messes, shake the seeds from trees, so trees can grow,
and animals can find homes again.


This broadside celebrates the partnership of Seattle Arts & Lectures’ Writers in the Schools Program and Seattle Children’s Hospital, empowering pediatric patients with guidance from poets Sierra Nelson and Ann Teplick. It was produced at the School of Visual Concepts in April 2017 and letterpress printed in a limited edition of 110.

I was thrilled to print Kira’s poem because it evokes such powerful ideas of nature. This was right around the time I started printing  reduction cut landscapes and I was excited to try this approach with Kira’s poem. Letterpress printed from hand carved, linoleum blocks. This print is a four pass reduction cut including two split fountains, metal type and photopolymer plates.

Boxcar Press included this poem in it’s 2017 Seattle Children’s Hospital Broadsides: Part 1 blog post.