Let’s talk about “Regarding Chainsaws” by Hayden Carruth

Sometimes when I read too many poems about the glory of nature (it IS glorious! I agree!), I need to take a break and be reminded of the ways nature can mark her massive power on human life. Hayden Carruth, who died in 2008, is a poet who wrote about rural life in Vermont (among many other things!) in a way that recognized its difficulty and outright danger while never ignoring how country life defined and empowered those who lived it. “Regarding Chainsaws” addresses those dangers and the reasons for tackling them.