This summer, I had the extraordinary opportunity to spend June as artist in residence at the Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island, one of the Isles of Shoals off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire.
As the first poet they’d had in the position, I spent many hours wandering the sea-washed granite outcrops, peering down microscopes alongside parasitology students, observing marine mammals with smart, passionate marine biologists, and accompanying sustainable fisheries experts on the boats of generous local fishermen to observe fishing practices.
Poetry has a long history on the Isles. In the late 1800s, poet and lighthouse keeper’s daughter Celia Laighton Thaxter ran a hotel and artists’ salon on Appledore, attracting visitors like Thoreau, Mark Twain, and Childe Hassam. Her poem The Sandpiper is one of my enduring favorites.
I wrote a lot during my short stay, inspired by the landscape, the animals, the fervor for exploration and discovery among the scientists, staff and students. Here are three poems published today by The Island Review.
