“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” — John F. Kennedy
Artwork by Hilary Cole
Do You Enjoy poetrywatch?
Want to see it continue? Then please, send your poems to us and let the Whatcom Watch share them with our readership! Seriously, we really do want your roughly 25-line poems though length is by no means a deal-breaker; it’s how you use those lines. Featuring or specific to Whatcom County and issues addressed by Whatcom Watch such as government, the environment and media. Send your poems to: poetry@whatcomwatch.org and let’s make magic happen.
Boris Schleinkofer, poetrywatch editor
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Printing press cleanup site
by Timothy Pilgrim
Newspapers produced here left behind
more than scraps of lost lives, scream
of sales, weddings, crashes, heaps
of political lies. When presses stopped,
ink dripped, pooled, gooed good earth
black. Darkroom chems, long time
escaping vats, seeped, streamed,
found hidden paths to gutters, streams.
Lead came heavy on soil, fresh
from announcing the newly dead —
infamy, added to weight of alphabet.
Vowels seemed relatively innocent,
even lithe, trudging to gray piles,
toxic, behind consonants.
Whole classified ads, their font, Times,
two inches wide, set ten points high,
left, with headlines, poisoned wakes.
Every paper, guilty, unaware, happy
to announce playoffs, Oscars, storms,
where a life was shot, the newest war.
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Timothy Pilgrim, emeritus associate professor of journalism at Western Washington University. A different version of “Printing press cleanup site” was published last year under the title “In conclusion” by Empty Bowl press. His work can be found at timothypilgrim.org.
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Our Dowager Empress (tanka prose)
by Sheila Sondik
While waiting for a friend’s arrival
on the Amtrak Cascades, I notice
a historical marker planted in front
of a scrawny tree. This empress tree
(Paulownia tomentosa) was a 1909 gift
to E.B. Deming, the president of
Pacific American Fisheries, a massive
salmon cannery at this site, from Goon Dip,
the Seattle Chinese consul and labor contractor.
The tree produces purple flowers in the spring
and has far outlived its expected lifespan of 70 years.
Fair haven, indeed.
the oldest empress
tree in the country
leans over the tracks
beside our train depot ––
crowds come and go
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Sheila Sondik writes and creates artwork amid the trees surrounding her Bellingham studio. The beauty of this area provides constant inspiration. Her second poetry chapbook, Lighting Up the Duff, was published by The Poetry Box in 2024.
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- Subject matter is unlimited, but poetry featuring or specific to Whatcom County and issues addressed by Whatcom Watch (government, the environment and media) will likely get first preference. Please keep it to around 25 lines; otherwise, we might have to edit your work to fit. Don’t make yourself unprintable. Send poems and your short, two- or three-sentence bios as a word document attachment to poetry@whatcomwatch.org. The deadline is the first day of the month. Please understand that acceptance and final appearance of pieces are subject to space constraints and editorial requirements. By submitting, authors give Whatcom Watch permission for one-time publication rights in the paper and electronic editions.
