April is poetry month

Here is another poem from a wall at the Milwaukee Convention Center. Especially now in April, Poetry Month, it is a wonder to think about a huge convention center with its walls covered in poetry! Not ads for products, not photographs of local scenic spots, not tributes to local celebrities . . . but POETRY! Shout it from the hilltops! Milwaukee did something amazing by decorating its convention center with poetry.

                   

 

What the Lake Told Me

by Peggy Hong



Lake Michigan at Terri Andre State Park, Wisc.



 

            You come and you go,

            the great lake chides,

            but I am always here,

            lapping at your ankles.

            Give me your indecision,

            your misdials, your series

           of bounced checks. Give me

            your titles, your diplomas,

            your lovely baby footprints.

 

            In return, I will bring you

            warmer Januarys,

            cooler Julys, and a blue

            to aspire to. Give me

            the sand between your toes

            I will bring you

            a school of alewives, and a

            cold Canadian undercurrent.

            Tell me what you long

            to forget. I will bring you

            a blue ball from down

            the beach.

          

            I am attached to nothing.

            I will teach you this.