Select poetry and photography from Letters to Lake Michigan is currently showing at the new Blue Heron Mercantile in Empire, Michigan. Now through mid-June, you can view and purchase limited edition letterpress poems, pressed by Freshly Squeezed Print Shop in Grand Rapids, MI, along with a series of images.
I was honored to have some poems featured in the publication “Looking Deeply at Small Things,” created by my friend Katie. The issue’s theme was the Winter Solstice, and I wrote a poem inspired by the seasonal shift.
Midwinter
The sun stands still
as the world holds its breath,
anticipating longer days.
Snow dusts the shoreline
and gleams like diamonds,
just before the light dips
below the Lake. Waves churn
in the longest night, a song to remind
us time still moves forward.
Morning is coming and with it––
light. Day will soon again
overtake the night.
New Year
The new year rolls in
like the waves––distinct
from the rest, still water
nonetheless.
A moment of energy untamed,
dissolving again to the water before,
merging itself to the waves
that come next.
I watch the swell,
the unknown heaving itself
into a frenzy, followed by
a quiet breath.
A lull in the movement
followed by a force
so strong it could knock
me over.
All of it
is You.
All of these waves
surge one after another,
rolling together––one body
of water.
All of these years
surge one after another
rolling together––
a life.