Category Archives: Poems & Stories

Tax Day Becomes Axe Day on My Block & Context for “Baraboo Haiku ” (Poem for April 15, 2026)

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Yesterday, I snapped this picture of an ash tree on the edge of our driveway:

This morning, I awoke to the roar of chainsaws.

One never really knows what the new day will hold, what will suddenly topple or stand the test of time. Yet what occurs is always interesting to me, even if unsettling. Here is a bit of the downed tree I claimed from the pile in the street. It seems to me to comment on the hoped-for longevity of the porch pillars of our 1905 house.

Context for “Baraboo Haiku” for April 15, 2026:

Periodically, I stumble over my cache of vintage family papers. Remember when pencils and picture postcards and penny stamps carried the day? Antecedents for pix and pixels and posts on blogs such as this?

This postcard was sent more than 100 years ago from my father’s grandmother, Katherine Hinman Williamson Schultz to her daughter, Isabelle. Kate is an important daily presence in my life, although I don’t recall meeting her. I wore her dress when I married Tim. She was a professional musician–piano and organ–and was also the family poet. (Her high school diploma hangs on our living room wall and served as the template for the one we crafted for Julia.) I know her only through stories, through a few documents and photographs, and through lines written in her hand. (Her diary is in my possession. One of the last entries, in quavery ink, was on April 17, 1960, in which she notes meeting infant me.) Her kindnesses shine through the obscuring years between us. And this one ephemeral communication sparked today’s slight poem.

I think she would be happy to know that Julia, too, studied piano and voice, just like her own red-haired daughter, Isabelle.

In Kate’s honor, I wrote out the first draft of this poem in pencil. I hope those yoked camels wintered in arid Texas or Mexico.

Until tomorrow, and all it holds,

LESLIE

Local Trees and Context for Poem “Survivor” (April 14, 2026)

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My understanding of the beauty and symbolism of the elm tree comes primarily from literature. Thoreau suffered when, in 1856, the Concord elm was cut down. Many novels and stories from earlier times cite the way elm trees arched over and shaded the streets of small town America. Sometimes their shapes were compared to fountains or wine glasses, green emblems of upward thrust and celebration.

None of this is part of my own visual vocabulary. I recall my girlhood confusion at the denuded city streets named “Elm,” yet it seemed I encountered one in every town. Perhaps that is why the title of Wes Craven’s 1984 film, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” has an eeriely apt echo of the macabre?

We are lucky to have a single example surviving on the boundary line between our property and the lot next door. Elm trees can live, they say for hundreds of years unless brought low by fungal pathogens. I hope this one outlives my human span. I’m pleased to say that the prognosis is good.

(The image above is of an ailing ash tree on the southeast corner of our driveway.)

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE

Northfield Parade of Books & Context for Poem “Birthday Banner for Karla” (April 13, 2026)

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My sister, Karla, is celebrating her birthday today, and it is a banner year for her. The poem for today hints at her many talents, kindesses, and wisdoms — each one better than the next. Happy Birthday, Karla! Many Happy Returns of the Day!

I thought a good companion post might highlight Northfield’s new public art, an actual banner of books created by a local artist, Rocky Casillas Aguirre, in conjunction with the Northfield Public Library and the City of Northfield’s Art in Public Places Program.

The 170-foot long mural is made of individual panels. It is designed to celebrate Northfielder’s love of writing and reading books, to screen the site of the demolished Archer House, and (once the current lot is built upon) to be able to be displayed in other locations, panel by panel, and to be stored easily. The line-up of more than 100 titles by authors with Northfield connections spans more than 100 years and every genre imaginable. I love walking by it and spotting works by people I know and being surprised by titles by authors whose Northfield connections were news to me. And I am thrilled to have one of my own titles included.

For more background on the artist, and recent thoughtful local commentary, as well as splendid photos, take a look at this article from SE Minnesota. Aguirre has work in the Paradise members show opening…today! …in nearby Faribault’s Paradise Center for the Arts. He is also the executive director of a visionary local non-profit called Sharing Our Roots. Their website explains that “Sharing Our Roots envisions a world where food and agriculture systems are profitable for farmers, fair to workers, beneficial to consumer health, restorative for rural communities, and regenerative for the environment.”

Below are a number of images of the banner and its vicinity. How many titles have you read?

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE

The Artistry of Heide Hatry and Fran Dillon & Context for Poem “Snow Madonna” (April 12, 2026)

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Snow Madonna (Photo: Fran Dillon)

My poem for today, “Snow Madonna,” was inspired by the art of two residents of New York City: Heide Hatry and Fran Dillon. Without their work, my poem wouldn’t exist. And maybe interdependence is the point?

I became aware of internationally celebrated artist Heide Hatry in October 2024 when her work, along with that of Francesca Schwartz, was discussed at the Artist Study Group monthly forum offered by the William Alanson White Institute for Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. Hatry’s collaborative work with poet Leonard Schwartz, celebrating the Eurasian owl, Flaco, produced Flacofolio, which a friend– who shares my love of owls rural and urban — brought to my attention.

This past winter, with the help of volunteers, she created temporary public sculpture from snow and stones to draw attention to the phenomenon of global warming. Here is short news film on her work this winter. And if you would like to learn more about these amazing polar bears in their native habitat and the erosion of that habitat — take a look at the non-profit Polar Bear International website. Humans have a window in which to solve this problem that we have created. Awareness, activism, and action are all needed now.

It was another friend, Fran Dillon, who co-directs the Artist Study Group, who shared her photographs of Hatry’s ephemeral snow sculptures with me and gave me permission to share them with you. Thank you, Heide and Fran!

Polar Bear Family (Photo: Fran Dillon)

Fran also shared with me an anonymous — and universal — message of kindness, one sculpted from the natural materials of Central Park. I leave you with this!

LESLIE


Spread the Love (Photo: Fran Dillon)

Considering National Pet Day & Context for Poem “North Star: for Stella ” (April 11, 2026)

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Today is, I learned, National Pet Day.

It is also National Cheese Fondue Day, National 8-Track Tape Day, National Submarine Day, National Living Donor Day, and National Barbershop Quartet Day.

Phew! Who knew?

It turns out that all 365 days of the year have multiple celebratory claims on them, each quirky, possibly historical, and passionately championed by at least one other American. Curious? Take a look at National Day Calendar and look up your birthday or anniversary. Perhaps you’ll find even more reason to celebrate.

But I digress.

To observe National Pet Day, I want to celebrate our own Stella. As a five-year-old rescue, she came to us on March 7, 2022 already with her name. Since then, she has become our own North Star, our beacon of hearth and home. (Above, Stella in my office in 2022. Below, another early image, the one I use as my screen saver.)

Happy National Something-You-Love Day!

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE