Welcome to Entangled Worlds
Forests breathe. Fungi think. And squid light up the depths in a language made of light.
We are part of an animate, ecological entanglement. Our bodies are themselves an entanglement of viruses, bacteria, and fungi - our very cells function because a single-celled organism swallowed another one eons ago. We could not breathe without the respirations of trees and plankton. We could not eat without pollinators and decomposers.
And yet, the stories that we tell ourselves are ones of stark individuality, a white male Hero’s Journey that replays itself over and over again in our society's societal narratives. All of us must find ways to re-story ourselves into the ecological entanglement around us, into the ecological entanglement that we already are.
By day I am the Creative Director at an climate NGO, and I’ve become frustrated at the limitations of the typical narratives around climate change. People are overwhelmed and frightened. All of us are dealing with a devastating multi-system collapse (albeit on vastly different scales depending on privilege) caused by late stage capitalism and colonialism and the ecocide committed in their progress-oriented linearity. People need a vision of a hopeful future to strive for, one based on de-growth, healing, decomposition, and abundance. They need a psychological reset of their nervous system that primes them to move toward creative solutions, not empty technocratic promises. They need a vision of the awe-inspiring mythic entanglement that we are all a part of in order to consistently break through societal scripts and radically choose a future where the more-than-human thrives.
Joy Harjo said at the 2023 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. that she can’t believe the human purpose on Earth is to destroy, so it must be to tell stories. We are storytelling creatures meant to make meaning from the embodied universe around us and the embodied universe that we are. Poetry is our ecology and ecology is poetry. There is no separating our storytelling from the material world.
About Entangled Worlds
Entangled Worlds is a poetic journey through place-based entanglement that crosses imaginary boundaries built by our white supremacist, neurotypical, heterosexual, gendered, and ableist society. It is inspired by my own lived experience of marginalizations while living in the environmental Sacrifice Zone of Appalachia where beautiful and resilient communities bloom amid the poison of both extractive industries and the false narratives perpetuated by a capitalist culture of disposability.
Entangled Worlds is the wildflower growing through the cracks of a parking lot, the pollinator garden in the median of a six-lane highway, the mushroom growing upon a trash heap. It is language and narratives that cross fences, break through established assumptions, and decompose the Hero’s Journey to see what we can grow from its remains.
It is hope, bruised and battered from a thousand blows. It is creative play nurtured amid ceaseless productivity. It is wonder and awe cultivated against mundane cruelty. Most of all, Entangled Worlds is a love letter to this wondrous entanglement I find myself a part of in a small corner of this shimmering, wriggling jewel we call Earth. May my words serve as testimony to any future generations about how desperately I loved this wondrous world.
About the Author
I’m Nichole Amber Moss (she/they), and I’m an emerging writer of speculative fiction and poetry. By day I work as the Creative Director at a climate research organization. By night I write stories inspired by queer ecology, ecofeminism, and Appalachian environmental justice. I live in Appalachia with my rescue dog Brodie Baggins. You can find me on Instagram and Bluesky.
Dedication
This newsletter is dedicated to my own beloved, more-than-human entanglements, especially to my family’s rescue dog Briana, who was one of the most joyful creatures I have ever had the honor of knowing and passed away suddenly in April 2024. Bree, my baby girl, you’ll forever be my writing buddy. You are in everything I do. You go with me wherever I am. XOXO
