What are the Earth’s only inputs? Sunlight:
fuels the cycle of life! Plus the occasional meteorite.
What can escape gravity, outputs from the whole system?
Only heat; a few accelerating rockets, hydrogen and helium.
Mushroom, microbe and worm ceaselessly turn
poo into food. These decomposers help us learn:
Don’t put in chemicals that don’t belong!
Poison: alters seas, kills bees, and silences bird song.
About the poem
Original poem by:
Professor John McAuliffe
Professor of Poetry and Director of Creative@Manchester
Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester
John McAuliffe’s poetry collections with The Gallery Press include The Way In (2015), winner of the Michael Hartnett Award; ]The Kabul Olympics (2020), Selected Poems (20220 and National Theatre (2026). John is Professor of Poetry at the University of Manchester, where he founded the Centre for New Writing with novelist Ian McGuire and is also Associate Publisher at Carcanet Press. In Jan 2026 he was appointed as Associate Vice-President (Cultural Portfolio) at the University. John has led the creative development of poetry as pedagogy for the RoundView, crafting poems into teaching tools and mentoring the team to develop their ability to blend words and meaning.
Dr Joanne Tippett
RoundView co-Founder
University of Manchester
Joanne is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Environment, Education and Development at The University of Manchester, and Founder of the social business Ketso. She began working in community participation and ecological planning in the mid 90s in Southern Africa, and has won numerous awards for innovation and social impact.
She was granted a British Academy Innovation Fellowship with the UK National Commission for UNESCO to catalyse transformative sustainability learning and engagement with the RoundView.
Dr Jamie Farrington
Research Associate
Jamie has contributed to the development of RoundView approach, learning tools and poetry since 2019, starting with archival research to inform the Unintended Consequences exhibition at Quarry Bank, National Trust. As a Research Associate in Planning Property and Environmental Management at The University of Manchester, he was seconded to UNESCO Manchester City of Literature, testing and developing the RoundView in libraires and civic spaces. His past research focused on the medical and environmental history of Quarry Bank Mill.