Planet Steward: Journal of a Wildlife Sanctuary is a breathtaking collection written by author and poet Stephen Levine during is one year stay at a natural sanctuary in Southern Arizona. Levine describes the land and his experiences in both prose and poetry. Set during a time of ongoing war and a growing environmental movement, Planet Steward is as relevant today as it was at the time of its publishing in 1974.

Levine and his family moved to the sanctuary in June of 1969. Levine was given the task of watching over the land, protecting it from poachers and caring for the animals. It is clear from reading this book, that Levine took his work as planet steward very seriously. Each entry and poem is a gentle lesson, taught by example, in planet stewardship. A sincere reading of Planet Steward awakens a natural aversion to environmental destruction and violence that exists within us all.

The spiritual nature of this book is a reminder to environmental activists of the need for a change of perspective, a shift towards mindfulness and reverence, in order to create a sustainable future. Levine is a Buddhist and views the land he protects as sacred, a physical manifestation of our true nature. He writes, "One way or another man will see his spirit reflected in the eyes of his brothers - and in each blade of grass, as the bodhisattva's vow goes." Levine often uses the Tibetan Buddhist term, Tara, or the feminine form of bodhisattva, to describe the earth. She is living, a thing to be cared for, appreciated and spoken to.

Native American spirituality is also present throughout the text. Towards the end of his time on the sanctuary, Levine preformed an ancient ritual he learned from a local Apache farmer. Describing this moment, he writes, "There is nothing foreign in this ceremony, a ritual of man celebrating and affirming life. To find the Apache and the homesteader within each of us. To be free of partial ways of seeing. To come to the surface, man alive, rejoicing in his living." Readers of Planet Steward will learn that a spiritual reverence for the land is not an ancient practice, but instead a forgotten place within our hearts.

"A poet, like a policeman, is always on duty," Levine says. No creature or plant is too insignificant to capture Levine's creative spirit. Through his poetry and prose, Levine demonstrates the role of art within the environmental movement. He writes, "How to communicate the pulsing re-volution which brings man back to his center, life and art made one through meditative recognition. To invoke mindfulness as a celebration of stewardship, a survival technique to raise consciousness, to see the divine as it become all about us." For Levine, the written word is a means of conveying to his and future generations the importance of a healthy planet to human survival and spiritual realization.

While many passages in Planet Steward focus on the beauty of nature, a significant portion of the book is dedicated to Levine's reflections on the ways in which humans harm each other, animals and the land. Written during the Vietnam War, Levine often compares the destruction of the environment to the horrors of battle. The following is an excerpt from a poem Levine wrote after finding a bird mortally wounded by a BB gun:

Walking toward the stream,

tears absorbed in high mountain desert,

his back nestled against my palm

his yellow breast turned upward

to the empty sky

Reminding me of the yellow flesh

of ten thousand children burning

in the jungles of Viet Nam.

Reminding me that what killed this bird

kills man

that the trigger finger mind

seeking to prove itself

in the death of another

is the suicide of consciousness,

the dissociation

of man from nature, removed

from his lifestuff percolating through.

That what killed this slowly stiffening bird

kills the planet

kills itself

On the sanctuary, there is a sense of peace and unison that Levine recognizes to be rare, even in 1969. He urges us to remember that as we treat the land and it's animals, so they treat us. He writes, "A horse, like a piece of land, responds in direct proportion to the respect and kindness it is offered. Each willingly offers its energies in response to love." This lesson rings painfully true today amidst the chaos of climate change, natural disasters and chronic illness.

However, Planet Steward is primarily a book about change, rebirth and hope. Through the changing seasons, cycles of birth and death and ever-present beauty, the sanctuary reminds Levine that there is always hope even in dark times. He writes, "I see a commune of animal speakers, of vegetarian brothers; a commune of planet consciousness in the rule of Tao. Not a dream but something to be worked toward: dreamt into action, made to become real."

According to Levine, universal brotherhood is crucial in helping us understand our oneness with the planet, with everything. Just as humans alter the earth to fit ideas of civilization, we also, as a species, use force to change, enslave and murder those who challenge our perceptions of normalcy. Addressing this sad truth, Levine points readers to the idea of the "Harmonic Man". In an entry from Thanksgiving Day, the author writes:

Let us now, sensing ourselves

in each other, look into our brothers' eyes

recognize the native man

behind our modern masks

and know that we are primitives

of an unknown culture

the aborigines of the future,

and from us shall evolve

Harmonic Man.

Levine's words capture nature's ability to move us, to make us change our ways to preserve its beauty. He shows us that one does not need to be granted a title of planet steward, as he was, to care for the land. In fact, it is in all of our best interests to act as caretakers for the earth, its creatures and people. When we care for the earth, it grants us bounty and good health. It is this direct connection to the planet that will ultimately make Levine's harmonic man a reality.

By Annie Brown