Kathryn P. Haydon has written six books, including her latest poetry collection Unsalted Blue Sunrise: Poems of Lake Michigan. Her poems have been published in publications such as New Croton Review, Written River, The Bedford Record-Review, Clinch, East on Central, Daily Haiku, and Highland Park Poetry as well as in books, academic journals, and in her first poetry collection. The founder of Sparkitivity, Kathryn writes and speaks widely on creative thinking and the secret strengths of outlier learners.
I used to stand
I used to stand
each evening on the back porch
waiting for the pink moment—
alpenglow.
Now the lake spreads
its rose-colored fondant
neatly from shore
to level horizon.
Talkers complain
when it’s gray;
birds perch at attention,
salute sun’s blushing descent.
From Unsalted Blue Sunrise: Poems of Lake Michigan by Kathryn P. Haydon (Prairie Cloud Press, 2023)
A narrow cloud hangs
A narrow cloud hangs
center-lake today
like Charlie Brown’s bad luck.
But the heron perched
below isn’t sad,
being a bird and all.
His neck,
a question mark,
follows me home.
From Unsalted Blue Sunrise: Poems of Lake Michigan by Kathryn P. Haydon (Prairie Cloud Press, 2023)
Trudging
Trudging
through sand
to mourn
fifty-seven alewives
washed up on shore.
Tears fall
on the altar
of silver bodies
in noontime sun.
The cantor says
the Talmud says
a funeral procession
must yield
to a wedding march.
You wade
ten inches east
water pools
around your feet
and little fish nibble
your ankles.
From Unsalted Blue Sunrise: Poems of Lake Michigan by Kathryn P. Haydon (Prairie Cloud Press, 2023)