Jack Marshall draws linkages between past, present, and future to advocate for appreciating what we have, and being better stewards of it. From “Birth took the bait”: Beaks of birds who earthward break their songs, in drought soar to clouds for a drink, a sip of what earth doesn’t offer anymore, and summer vanishes, like a stain that was once a shore. Born in Brooklyn to Jewish parents who emigrated from Iraq and Syria, Marshall has received the PEN Center USA Award, two Northern California Book Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a nomination from the National Book Critics Circle.