Lois Welshons • Where the Moon Is

In her first book of poetry, Lois Welshons takes us to a variety of landscapes: the prairie and small town where she grew up; the beautiful St. Croix River near Stillwater, Minnesota, where she currently lives with her husband; and quiet Teal Lake in the northern Wisconsin forest where she spends time with family, friends, and other wild creatures.

Do what you can

As the moon rises, do what you can.

Leave the pots to soak in the sink,

wind up the hose, put away the trowel,

let the doves have the last word.

Make accommodation with the dark:

dim down your eyes

until the white peonies blaze.

As the moon sets, do what you can.

Pull close to the warmth beside you,

wind up all your final dreams,

permit the birds a rackety dawn.

Keep your eyes on the emerging

shapes of trees, and find

consolation in the growing light.

From Where the Moon Is, by Lois Welshons

About Lois

Lois studied creative writing at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she earned a Master of Liberal Studies degree. Her poetry has been published in several journals, including Voiceprint and Water~Stone; her short fiction received an award in the Lake Superior Writers Competition. A mother and grandmother, Lois lives with her husband John in Stillwater.

Lois on Writing Poetry

I grab a line or two of words or a persistent image and walk off the edge of a cliff. The free fall is exhilarating — ends in lots of disastrous landings, a few good ones. I’m surprised to find that often I land on familiar ground, in what seems to be my territory.

From The Double Meaning of Yield: Laurel Poets on Writing Poetry