she is the sea glass queen
all xtratuf boots and rain gear
trowel and shovel
searcher of shards
of pottery and glass
she takes the blue canoe
down to wrangell
a meandering passage
through silvery waterways
lined by rocky beach and forest
she is the writer
all creative mind and chapbooks
filled journals and prompts
collector of truths and stories
recorded by pen on paper
she will spend the summer
at mickey’s fishcamp
photograph the play
of cloud and setting sun
sort treasures from the beach
organize words on the page
Kersten Christianson is a raven-watching, moon-gazing, high school English-teaching Alaskan. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry through the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2016. Kersten’s recent work has appeared in Cirque, Inklette, Sheila-Na-Gig and Pure Slush. Her book Something Yet to Be Named by Aldrich Press and her chapbook titled What Caught Raven’s Eye by Petroglyph Press will be published in 2017. Kersten co-edits the quarterly journal Alaska Women Speak. When not exploring the summer lands and dark winter of the Yukon Territory, she lives in Sitka, Alaska with her husband and photographer Bruce Christianson, and daughter Rie.