Category Archives: Poems & Stories

MOCKINGHEART REVIEW Has Just Published Its Fall 2025 Issue and Includes My Poem, “Ships”

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“Autumn Joy in Our Garden” (Leslie Schultz, October 2025)

For me, the publication of a new issue of MockingHeart Review is always an event, and that is even more true on those occasions when the journal includes one of my own poems, as it does this time, because I am truly happy to be in company with so many talented poets and artists.

To find my poem, “Ships”, inspired by childhood memories of the Coos River in Oregon, click HERE.

Even better, to look at the entire issue, chockful of poems and art work, go to the home page of MockingHeart Review, click on “Volume 10, Issue 3”. I think you will find it an oasis of insight and beauty.

Wishing you a splendid autumn day!

LESLIE

“Fall Fruit, Northfield, MN” (Leslie Schultz, October 2025)

MEZZO CAMMIN Releases Its Summer 2025 Issue, and It Contains Two Poems By Me: “Wondering…” and “Saxophone”

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For me, it is always a cause for celebration when a new issue of Mezzo Cammin is published. And I am especially joyful about having two poems included in the Summer 2025 issue. Both my poems are about memory: “Wondering…” and “Saxophone.” What I shall remember about this issue of the journal is the splendid poetic company my own poems keep.

You will have your own favorites, I know. While I am still reading and savoring the offerings in this issue, today I am wowed by Katie Hartsock’s poem for the luminous Rhina Espaillat; Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas’s poem, “The Chapel Wife,”; and a long-form poem, “Strange Hero,” by Julia Griffin, whose shorter, keenly made poems I have come to look forward to in the journal, Light.

(To learn more about Ken McCullough’s work,including his collection, Dark Stars, which inspired my poem, “Saxophone,” take a look at his website.)

“View to the East” (photograph by Leslie Schultz)

Third Wednesday Magazine Has Just Published My Poem “When the Time Comes”!

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There is no feeling quite like learning that a magazine you respect and enjoy reading has accepted something you have written. It feels as though you have been handed not just a bouquet but a whole wall of flowers. Though the poem itself has a distinctly autumnal feel, the news of its publication felt more like the merry month of May.

My poem, “When the Time Comes,” will appear in the Fall Issue of Third Wednesday Magazine, and it has already been published online, on the magazine’s website.

(These photographs are of downtown Park Rapids, Minnesota.)

A Rare Thrill: The Cloud Appreciation Society Has Posted One of My Photographs on Their Photo Gallery!

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The Cloud Appreciation Society is an amazing organization that combines science, art, and sky watching for its 60,000+ members. My dear friend, Ann Lacy, gifted me with a subscription to their “Cloud-a-Day” service some years ago. That gift has certainly increased my own viewing and photographing of the cloud-enhanced skies. (Some recent images of Midwestern clouds–taken from my front porch–are shared above and below–but that is not the thrilling part.)

Last week, I took a photograph of clouds over the treeline near Spring Wind Farm–our new CSA–in Waterford Township, just north of Northfield. Today, I sent the photograph to the Cloud Appreciation Society, along with my somewhat fanciful reading of the “story” line. They just let me know that they have posted the image and words, along with a few hints of the underlying cloud science, on their Photo Gallery Wall!

I invite you to take a look–not just at my image but at all the amazing resources they offer.

Sincerely,

Leslie (aka Cloud Appreciation Society Member 51,234)

The Orchards Poetry Journal’s Summer Issue 2025 is Out–and It Contains My Sonnet, “Fresnel Lens Dream”

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I am so happy to share the latest issue of The Orchards Poetry Journal with you–so eager to do that that I have not yet read all the poems myself yet. This is a summer pleasure I look forward to, perhaps in the hammock out in the garden. For now, I am just honored to find my Petrarchan sonnet, dedicated to Virginia Woolf, titled “Fresnel Lens Dream,” in what I know is good company.

To read this issue for free, click HERE. As you look over the contents, I would love to know if you find particular favorites in these pages.

Wishing you a happy summer, and a few dreamy, beachy moments tucked in here and there,

LESLIE

Waterglass, Our Dining Room Table
Point Arena Lighthouse, California, 2024