Lift in unmeasured waves across the water A sailboat rides the wind out on the bay Today each of us breathe light and air as if It were text written willingly for one another Our lives are spun with that kind of giving The tree planted for someone else’s comfort Empty basket waiting to be filled The extended hand an offering of grace We are givers in love with believing We are the horizon the road the traveler Map makers for others to follow The door that opens for the word to enter Everything we give to one another is A timepiece a fluid motion of hours Everything we give a sweet echo singing
Ellen Kort (Appleton) was Wisconsin’s first Poet Laureate, serving from 2000-2004. Ellen passed away in 2015. She taught at local universities and schools and conducted writing workshops for at-risk teens, nurses, physicians, and for survivors of cancer, AIDS, and domestic abuse. Ellen authored eleven books and eight collections of poetry. Her poetry was performed by the New York City Dance Theater and is incorporated architecturally in downtown Milwaukee’s Midwest Express Center, the Green Bay Botanical Gardens, and the Fox River Mall. She traveled widely as a poet, and poetry workshop facilitator throughout the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, the Bahamas, and Japan. The Ellen Kort Peace Park in Appleton is in the planning stages.
Through This Door: Wisconsin in Poems
