Matthew Olzmann: Microcosm and Macrocosm (July 2020)

How does one write about something when the subject seems too big to write about? Olzmann examines the relationship between the large-scale issue and the smaller components which comprise that issue. considering how one might be reflected in the other, how the whole might amplify the concerns of the individual pieces, and how a narrow focus on a small aspect of a larger story might make the global concerns more tangible.  Poems by Stephen Dobyns, Carrie Fountain, and Naomi Shihab Nye are among the works discussed.