Monthly Archives: April 2025

April 19, 2025 Context for Poem “On Color”

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(Photo by Gisela Fotografie; Pixabay)

I have heard it said that Minnesotans go mad for color in spring. It might be true. Tim and I have just purchased some terra cotta pots, glazed a deep cobalt blue, for the garden. I am envisioning them holding pansies and bright green sweet potato vines, but they cannot safely be planted yet because, well, it is Minnesota. Only the foolhardy plant tender annuals before May 15. (I know this from sad experience 🙁 .)

In any case, those pots alone, resting on the soft red bricks of the patio Tim made for me on our 10th anniversary, next to the now-greening grass and the sea of deep-blue scilla blooms, are a welcome pop of color all on their own.

Perhaps that is why one of the Rosendahl glossary terms for the letter “S” caught my eye this morning: “Sordid.” It is a word I know, of course, but in the metaphorical context of dirt: “sordid details” or “sordid deeds.” Here is Rosendahl’s gloss: “dirty in tint, chiefly applied when of a impure white.” That got me thinking about the subtle sophistication of such hues–not soiled but chic–and how I am missing that opportunity in our garden. Next time I plant tulip bulbs, I am going to seek out some with this lovely shades.

(Photo: margaret_1974 Pixabay)

Wishing you a spectacular day!

LESLIE

April 18, 2025 Context for Poem “Rhubarb”

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Rain Clouds Yesterday to the West

It has been a long time since I have attempted an acrostic, but this rainy grey morning seemed like the time for it. (Doesn’t the pale line of cloud above look like the graceful edge of a leaf?) My inspiration was the kind and neighborly sharing–along with Tim’s gardening skills–that have led to a new border of rhubarb on the north edge of front garden. Tnak you, Tim! Thank you, Rich and Raymonde!

Our healthiest plants are those shared from the gardens of our neighbors. Perhaps this is true for you, too? A vigorous transplant is a great joy, and every time we see these gift plants we see the love behind them.

And thank you all for joining me on this April botanical journey!

LESLIE

April 17, 2025 Context for Poem “Encounter”

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(Photo: PublicDomainPictures, Pixabay)

This was another day of searching on my own for an appropriate botanical candidate inspired by the letter “Q”, since Rosendahl did not have any entries for this letter of the alphabet.

I love both of these plants. Juglone in our garden (yes, those black walnuts) prohibit us from planting a quaking aspen, much as I would like to do that. Queen Anne’s lace can probably tough it out, but I have never seen seeds for sale or nursery plants, perhaps because here they are prevalent ditch flowers. Perhaps, someday, I will find some of those to admire up close and often.

In terms of poetry, each of these plants reminds me of a splendid often-read poem. I include links here, in case you want to refresh your own memory of them. The first, featuring Queen Anne’s lace, is the splendid “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich. Until I sought out links for this post, I did not realize that this poem is having a moment–search on it and you’ll find many treasures, including a laudatory assessment from A. O. Scott of the New York Times from last month and YouTube videos of Rich reading her masterful work.

In a similar vein, from a much different poet, aspen trees always call to mind for me Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 1832 masterpiece of Arthuriana, “The Lady of Shallott,” particularly these two lines:

Willows whiten, aspens quiver, 
Little breezes dusk and shiver...
(Photo: mcmacin; Pixabay)

Never before, or since, have I seen “dusk” used as a verb–just one detail that makes Tennyson’s incantatory poem continue to repay reading and rereading.

Wishing you splendid views today, everywhere you look--LESLIE

Susan Jaret McKinstry and I Team Up Again–Reading at Zenith Bookstore in Duluth on May 1, 2025

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Susan Jaret McKinstry and I will be reading at Zenith Bookstore in Duluth, Minnesota on the first evening in May–an appropriate coda to National Poetry Month 2025. Zenith Bookstore was founded by former Northfielders Bobby and Angel Dobrow. If you–or a poetry lover you know–will be in Duluth that evening, we would love to see you there.

Full Details:

Thursday May 1st, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m

Here is some text from the Zenith Bookstore’s Event Page. (Please feel free to share!)

“Join us as we welcome educator and poet Susan Jaret McKinstry and author and poet Leslie Schultz on Thursday, May 1st at 7pm. Susan will share her new chapbook Tumblehome and Leslie will read from her latest book Geranium Lake: Poems on Art and Art-Making. They will discuss their books, poetry, and answer questions from attendees. Books will be available for purchase at the event.”

Tumblehome by Susan Jaret McKinstry is structured like a musical composition. It moves in three sections as it interweaves and deepens themes of home, time and loss. The poems contemplate vast human history and the small space of our lives in distinct voices and episodes, with closely-observed objects – coins, stones, birds, water – reappearing and echoing to create a harmonic poetic travelogue.

Named for a bold pink pigment that fades over time, Leslie Schultz’s vibrant collection Geranium Lake: Poems on Art and Art-Making is an ekphrastic extravaganza as well as a meditation on age, time, and beauty. Schultz’s refreshing curiosity is evident as she engages with individual works of art and with larger issues of looking, curation, and display.

Susan Jaret McKinstry is a professor of 19th c British literature, narrative theory, journalism, and creative writing at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She has published poems in Plain Songs I & II, Crosswinds Poetry Journal, and many others. Susan yearns for the sea and has been lucky to teach and write in Ireland, Scotland, Norway, London, Florence, and Moscow.

Leslie Schultz has six collections of poetry. Her poetry has appeared widely in such journals as Poet Lore, Mezzo Cammin, Midwest Quarterly, and others. In addition to poems, she publishes photographs, essays, and fiction; makes quilts and soups; and happily mucks about in a garden plagued by shade, rabbits, and walnut trees.

April 16, 2025 Context for Poem “Pome Fruit”

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First Kiss Apple with Winona Pear

Rosendahl’s entries for the letter “P” held many attractions for me. I was able to work in two of my favorite into today’s offering: “pyriform” (pronounced “peer-i-form”), an entirely new word to me that means “pear-shaped;” and ‘Pome,” which already held associations for me though the botanical connection was delightfully new.

Previous? The title of a poetry collection that James Joyce published in 1927: Pomes Penyeach–which I have assumed was his thumb in the eye to “correct” British pronunciation and spelling–and a monthly local event at our public library that goes by the acronym P.O.M.E. or Poetry Open Mic Event.

(As for the use in botany of the word, “pome,” I believe that today’s poem, emailed to you if you requested it, explains that.)

Wishing that you, too, make delightful discoveries today in the worlds of letters and growing plants–LESLIE