Human beings are forgetful creatures.
But the Earth remembers everything.
Every river carries stories of migrations.
Every desert holds the memory of ancient civilizations.
Every tree ring archives years of sunlight, drought, storms, and stillness.
This idea, ancestral memory in nature, is deeply woven into Nature Speaks, and into PEL’s life itself.
Nature as Our First Teacher
Long before schools or books existed, humans learned from nature.
The stars taught navigation.
Birds taught seasons.
Land taught survival and spirituality.
Fire taught transformation.
PEL’s travels across continents exposed him to cultures that still hold this memory, where nature remains the primary source of wisdom.
The Earth Holds Our History
When PEL hitchhiked across the world, he met people whose lives were intertwined with land.
Farmers in small villages.
Nomads.
Gardeners.
Children playing with river stones.
These experiences shaped his belief that the Earth holds the memory of humanity’s original kindness.
The poetry in Nature Speaks echoes this idea:
Nature is not a backdrop, it is a keeper of history.
Trees as Carriers of Memory
Trees live hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years.
They hold the memory of:
- storms
- seasons
- travelers
- animals
- ancestors
When PEL lived in a tree for six months in Australia, he experienced this truth firsthand.
The branches became shelter, witness, teacher.
To live in a tree is to live inside memory itself.
Animals as Messengers
In many cultures, animals carry symbolic messages:
- Wolves: loyalty and instinct
- Eagles: vision
- Elephants: memory and wisdom
- Dolphins: communication
- Horses: freedom
PEL uses animals throughout Nature Speaks to deliver the Echo—the message traveling across the world.
This reflects a powerful truth:
animals are part of our global ancestry.
Nature Reawakens the Human Spirit
When we reconnect with nature, something ancient wakes up in us.
We begin to remember:
- belonging
- intuition
- purpose
- humility
- gratitude
PEL’s poetry invites readers back into that remembrance, line by line.
A Gift to the Future
By donating all royalties to IFAW, PEL honors not only the animals of today, but the generations that will inherit the Earth after us.
It’s a gesture rooted in ancestral wisdom:
leave the world better than you found it.
Final Reflection
We come from nature.
We return to nature.
And between those two points, the Earth continually whispers our origin story.
We only need to listen.