Nature as the Other: The Ethical Dimension in Don McKay's Ecopoetry

Recently, environmental crises, often caused by human hands, have become very common. Accordingly, poets and critics begin to look for new ways of relating with nature. Their writings offer a call for a change in the way we view the natural world and the complex web of relationships that shape it. Throughout his poetry, McKay offers a detailed analysis of how humans may relate better to the environment. For him, the core of ecopoetry lies in the idea that all human and non-human beings are interrelated in a great web that grasps the whole universe. This interconnection promotes our sense of living with the non-human other in a unified community. Therefore, we start to adopt a feeling of humility in our recognition of the non-human nature. Once we feel humble towards the natural world, we become aware of the present environmental crisis that threatens both the human and the non-human.  Regarding the non-human nature as the other, McKay writes ecopoems which astonishingly turn the familiar into unfamiliar making it worthy of note and respect. He believes in considering and valuing things for their complete being, not just for their use. The ethical address in his ecopoetry is not confined to birds, animals or plants. He argues that the nature poet can expand his ethical concern to include other things like tools and technology for instance. So, he writes beautiful odes to cars, musical instruments, baseball gloves, knives, forks and spoons. In brief, the ecopoetry written by McKay presents a profound respect for the otherness of nature dealing with the non-human other in a highly ethical way. Outstandingly, his work reveals a consideration of the other, a shift away from anthropocentrism, a balance between the human and the non-human, and a promotion of sustainability of our shared environment. Standing for all these views in addition to its adoption of the principle of responsibility in our relationship with the non-human nature, McKay's ecopoetry can said to have an ethical orientation.