Leslie Lee

Wake
Unfurl that fluid gown, sweet inland sea,
Beneath the galaxy of shivered light,
Then murmur here what mysteries set free
A thousand rivers wound about my height.
Let these peninsulas and sheltered bight
Surround your silver bays in deep embrace
As breath of pine and pungent scent of night
Perfume the air upon your liquid face.
Enfolded in the gentle swells that grace
The land or tossed in tempest’s basso score,
But stir the winds to whisper songs that trace
The measure of my heart along the shore.
Like dreams we’ll flow in this enchanted home,
My sandswept hair awash with starlit foam.
 
 
 
Leslie Lee is author of Backcountry Ranger, The Diaries and Photographs of Norton Pearl, the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive speech for the NASA TED-x talk themed Extreme Green, numerous pieces of professional writing, “Pearl’s Girls”, a linguistic analysis of obsolescent and obsolete speech, and Pine Hollow, A Vernacular Architecture. Her unpublished works include thirty travel and sketch journals, essays, poetry and her memoir. Lee is a visionary, builder, adventurer, artist, author, philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the recipient of the “2013 Great Lakes Lighthouse Beacon Award” presented by, FLOW for Water, and the 2011 Northern Michigan Environmental Action Committee’s “John Nelson Water Steward Award” for her work supporting freshwater resources. In 2008, Lee started the art initiative, Lake Affects Art, an exploration of the arts that originate in the geography of the region. She cofounded the non-profit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. Lee lives near Traverse City, Michigan.