A Las Vegas poet sparks environmental mindfulness.
By Melissa Gill
All Photos by Tiffany Salerno
When I read Heather Lang-Cassera’s (@heatherlangcassera) “Firefall,” the world grew bigger, unveiling the beauty and bleakness of humanity’s impact on the complex planet we call home.
“Firefall” is a poetry collection that is a meditative exploration of humanity and nature’s complicated relationship, emphasizing the gravity of climate change. Through pantoums, shifting forms, and hypnotic lines, her ecopoems invite us to witness the collision between wilderness and waste.
Lang-Cassera—Clark County, Nevada Poet Laureate for 2019-2021—latest poetry book underscores the consequences of losing touch with the environment’s significance. Landscapes emerge where “bristlecone trembles” and “feral lavender” grows, evoking beauty and alarm.
At its core, “Firefall” is more than a lamentation of earth’s decline; it’s a call to nurture what remains. It confronts an unsettling apathy that happens when people distance themselves from the natural world.
When she writes: “Do not underestimate the traces we have swiftly made of us.”
To me, it lands not as instruction, but as an honest reflection.
Stylistically, Lang-Cassera’s work evokes Louise Glück’s metaphor-laden introspection and W.S. Merwin’s drifting syntax. Her poetry moves seamlessly through dreamlike sceneries and stark domains shaped by the drastic shift in the environment. Between technology and nature, silence and commotion, absence and presence, the poet’s language leans toward rupture.
Take this line, which thrums with grief and tension:
“Sheet metal growling in the Mojave wind, styrofoam homes, still empty bookshelves, and newly found cats, these howling bodies, surround church bells.”
Throughout “Firefall,” the friction between preserving nature and industrial expansion is palpable. Like a whisper, her words stir a quiet conviction: “In revolution, your voice is a comet.”
Firefall, published by Unsolicited Press, is now available. Unsolicitedpress.com. (@unsolicitedp)
A Las Vegas native, is a freelance journalist, literary artist, and social media manager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work appears in The Recording Academy, Consequence, Off The Strip Media, Flash Fiction Magazine, and Devoid Magazine. She’s fascinated by all things paranormal and peculiar. People have guessed that she’s a Capricorn, but she’s actually three raccoons stumbling around in a trench coat. Her music taste is mood-based, but some of her favorite artists are Silk Sonic, Phoebe Bridgers, Fleetwood Mac, Dolly Parton, Paramore, and Tracy Chapman. She’s currently working on her debut poetry chapbook, Neon Neverland. Follow her on Instagram, @melissa.m.gill, to read her latest work.