HUM: A lyrical field journal
Poems and essays inspired by Northern landscapes, wildlife, and inspiring writers
Melissa Kalinowski
Poet & Writer | Self-taught Naturalist
Across the four seasons, I hike and observe the natural wonders around the Minnesota Valley wetlands and the Mississippi River. This terrain inspires my writings. My poems have appeared in Concision Poetry Journal, Kaleidoscope, and others.
Golden Light, Gray Ghost
A raptor soared above the treeline, vanishing before I could identify it—an omen for the chase ahead.
![[There’s pain as fingertips stiffen like cattails]](https://i0.wp.com/poetryhive.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Red-tailed-hawk-la25-3.png?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
[There’s pain as fingertips stiffen like cattails]
There’s pain as fingertips stiffen like cattails.
Acts of Discovery: Waves to Shells and Floods to Flowers
The first time I walked a Pacific Ocean beach was as a girl on a trip to Washington. Feeling electrified, I waded among the tumultuous movements and sounds from the waves.
Lake Breezes, Now and Before
I wish I might always feel their presence …
Serenity
Let the peace of a summer night ascend burdens from the day …
Summer Pictures
A goldfinch erupts from a thistle colony …
About the Future
I’m not afraid; buttercups glow like fireflies in the night sky …
At Lakeside
… lucky for the swallows, the roots up through the trunk withstood winter while the neighboring tree, dying, fell down …
Shooting Stars
There is a Milky Way in the meadow, starry flowers in the grass…
94-Day Trek Across Antarctica, February 2001
The news in Sunday’s paper, history
Was made with skiers: Ann and Liv on ice.
A Wish for Silent Nights
The owl’s ability to hear was greater than most. I tested mine by turning my back to the reeds. Could I detect their movements in the wind by sound unaided by sight?
The Pine
Suffers from a wound. Its resin flows like a stream, down the trunk…
The Way
Of the way the bumblebee goes, hangs upside down …
The Valley
It was there when the wind parted the leaves …
On a Summer’s Day
Yellow spears of loosestrife band together and march along the creek …
Tree, Crooked Rock & Flames
Wildflowers begin and wander deep into the woods. What surprises come next?
Queens of the Forest
When they rise from beds in peace with pink slippers and pearly diadems, we fall for them.
A Day at the Lake
The hatchlings must claw free from underground, crawl over land to the lake, and swim. One day these precocial creatures may unknowingly encounter their parents and share a basking log.