Unseen Swells
Knowledge is care, an earth week cleanup, and this month's poem!
This week, I picked up a book that has sat on my shelf for years, one I have put off reading for one reason or another, even though its content feels like a no-brainer for me to take in. The book is “The Wave Watcher’s Companion” (I know; why haven’t I read it yet?), and it meanders through discussion on all sorts of waves–from ocean waves to brain waves. I am really enjoying it thus far.
Since deepening my relationship to Lake Michigan by moving to Empire, I have slowly gathered information I never really expected to need and at first, never really sought out. Perhaps the most enjoyable form of learning, I gathered information based on the questions I would notice while out on my walks or swims. How is the lake so teal? How did Petoskey stones form? If the lake isn’t tidal, how do the levels fluctuate?
Similarly to getting to know my husband or a close friend, overtime I have picked up tidbits of information and lodged them in my brain, where they begin to form a more full picture of this body of water that forms the entire western edge of the lower peninsula of Michigan.
This year, I am working to be more strategic in order to expand my understanding of the water. Is it possible this desire is growing out of my expanded relationship to the water?
For the last twelve months, I swam in Lake Michigan at least once a week. I have never done that before. I hope that I will never miss a month of being in Lake Michigan again. Dipping with such consistency has changed my relationship to the water in ways I am still realizing. Of course I want to know more about the Great Lakes; I am spending more time in them than ever.
This knowledge is about more than trivia. It is about understanding another body. It is an act of care to get to know someone, something. And the more we know, the more we must care. Right?
Next week is Earth Week, and next Saturday, April 27, Sleeping Bear Surf is organizing a beach cleanup with The Cleanup Club. This is a great way for us to transfer our understanding and care of the lake into action. The event is from 10am-noon at North Bar Lake in Empire. You can find out more and RSVP here! If you’re local, I hope to see you there!
Swim Club
Tomorrow, we are swimming at Empire Beach at 1pm. Note the time change; this works best for some of our neighbors. We’ll likely just formally meet through the end of April, as May will see the return of shifting schedules and get us a bit closer to warm swimming. Or at least, warmer. Hope to see you tomorrow!
This month, I have focused more intently on my poetry practice than I have in a while. Quite honestly, it has nothing to do with it being National Poetry Month, and everything to do with the emergence of spring, a baby who is a little older, and the resulting headspace both of these events have created.
Essay writing has become my default art form over the last few years, something that wasn’t really intentional. Whereas once words would come to me with all the cadence and line breaks of the first draft of a poem, now prose is my go-to. There is nothing wrong with this, and I quite like essay writing, but I want to make sure I am also practicing my poetry writing.
Over the last few weeks, I have not only dusted off “The Wave Watcher’s Companion", but also some of my favorite poetry handbooks, and I aim to set some goals with how much poetry I am reading. This might be the biggest indicator of what type of writing comes out when I sit down to work: what genre I am reading the most. Admittedly, I have read more essays than any other writing form these last few years.
Today’s poem is the result of everything I am reading this week. Learning about waves, refreshing the ways I utilize sounds and imagery. It is all a practice.
I remembered to record myself reading the poem this week, and hope you enjoy hearing it read aloud.
Unseen Swells
Ripples undulate on the water’s surface,
criss-crossing cat’s paws shimmering in the sun.
The illusion of a near-placid lake
without a chaotic crest in sight.
Under the surface, the water is layered,
striated by warmth and lack of.
Internal waves form in the between,
unseen swells shift everything.
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Thank you so much for reading and subscribing. I hope to see some of you at swim club tomorrow, or at the beach cleanup next week!
Cheers,
Mae