Poetry by Kersten Christianson
Eat your greens: Spruce tips,
kale, fiddleheads; Bead berries
picked straight from the bush:
Salmon, blue, huckle,
rasp, black. Critical stretching,
mandatory, deep
breathing, proof of pulse.
Yoga, meditation, plant
seeds, cultivate blue
poppies. Frenetic
chase, two tiny juncos flit
from cedar branch to
hemlock. Give yourself
space to smile when he calls you
sweetie. Pursue joy.
Kersten Christianson: Alaskan Poet, Moon Gazer, Raven Watcher, Northern Trekker, Teacher. She is the poetry editor of Alaska Women Speak, authored Curating the House of Nostalgia (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2020), What Caught Raven’s Eye (Petroglyph Press, 2018), and Something Yet to Be Named (Kelsay Books, 2017). Kersten lives with her daughter in Sitka, Alaska.
