Issue > Poetry
Susan Musgrave

Susan Musgrave

Susan Musgrave has published 30 books and received awards in six categories—poetry, novels, non-fiction, food writing, editing and books for children. She lives on Haida Gwaii off Canada’s northwest coast, owns and manages Copper Beech Guest House, and teaches poetry in the University of British Columbia’s Optional Residency MFA in Creative Writing program. Her most recent poetry collection is Origami Dove.

The Way the Stubborn Land Goes Soft Before the Sea


That month before my sister died I found her
on the beach; the foam, after a north wind
had blown all week, knee-deep.
These days when I walk to White Creek
I think of her, closer to death
than I was at the time,  the way
she sat straight against a stranded log,
waiting.  My father said look your last
on all things and I looked at my sister and back
at the sea, thinking this is what I will miss, too —
the surge upon the shore, the herds
of sandpipers jinking in and out as the waves
break and recede. Now each time I look,
I look my last, and then
I look again.

Poetry

Heather Altfeld

Heather Altfeld
Late Atonement, Lower Sierra

Poetry

Ken White

Ken White
My Mother's Ghost

Poetry

Stephen Knauth

Stephen Knauth
Rest Stop