Coffeehouse’s Earthy Campaign : Poetry: “We have to get out the word” on the environment, says one sponsor of “Mother Nature Takes a Stanza.”

While countries big and small grimly consider the environment at the Earth Summit this week, a local coffeehouse has planned a little pro-nature confab of its own.

The Blue Marble, known for its hot espresso and freewheeling poetry readings, Thursday night will offer “Mother Nature Takes a Stanza,” an open reading designed to give poets and other writers their chance to be heard on environmental matters. The goal is to spread awareness that the planet is in trouble and that something needs to be done.

“This is an issue that needs to be brought up all the time, that everyone should consider every day,” said Lola Burke, one of the Blue Marble’s owners. “Whatever it takes, from something like the Earth Summit to poetry that pounds home the message, we have to get out the word.”

Burke realizes that a few lines of heated poetry or stanzas of dolorous prose might not make much of a difference on a grand scale, but she believes it’s a valid way to start.

“Poetry is just one of the angles we can take in approaching the problem. Words are very powerful and can shape our future,” she said. “Maybe some people will listen and then take action, locally or wherever. Poetry feeds on people’s emotions, and from emotions comes actions.”

The floor will be open to everyone, so Burke said there may be surprises in terms of content and quality. Blue Marble regulars are expected to appear. One, Eldon P. Maness, plans to read his “Man and Nature Are One:”

He poisons the world and does not die.

Living off his waste, he begins to cry

and laments for his lost stature

regretting the march that led to his degeneration.

Despite that bleak assessment, Maness said he’s optimistic that a grass-roots movement can help ensure the planet’s survival.

“Now that people in the cities are screaming, action will be taken,” he said. “It’s become trendy to be environmentally conscious in the ‘90s, which is a good thing.”

Burke noted that coffeehouses, in their own small way, are becoming vigorous public forums. The Blue Marble, she noted, has offered other readings linked to current events (the last one focused on the Persian Gulf War) and other coffeehouses in Orange County recently presented programs exploring the Los Angeles riots.

Along with the readings Thursday night, the Blue Marble plans to present a video examining the loss of rain forests around the world.

Portions of the evening will be filmed by the Orange County Green Party, a fledgling movement based on Europe’s liberal Green Party. The Orange County group hopes to present an environment-oriented program on public access television in Santa Ana by the end of the summer, said spokeswoman Abba Anderson.

* “Mother Nature Takes a Stanza” begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Blue Marble Coffeehouse, 1907 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa. Free. Information: (714) 646-5776.