Kevin McKelvey (Artist-in-Residence, 2007)

Herring Bay

NPS Photo

"Azimuth" by Kevin
The axis of this Island, with its own Magnetic North,
floats in Superior’s compass.
The rose – sugar maple and spruce, greenstone and copper,
wolf and moose, basalt and cold water –
points to the eight directions we all make here. On a calm day,
the bezel-smooth Lake bares its fullest blues and greens
and reflects the sky’s goodnight blushes. The furious days
end engulfed in a lake bottom black.
Those extremes, like in the compass rose,
we tread here, and reorient the azimuth to our souls.

• Read Kevin's complete donation of poems: Greenstone Ridge Trail Guide - "hikers can heighten their experiences on the Greenstone Ridge Trail."

 

About the Artist

Kevin McKelvey is a place-based poet, writer, designer, and social practice artist and works as an Associate Professor and Director of the M.A. Program in Social Practice Art at University of Indianapolis. He was an Isle Royale Artist-in-Residence from July 6th to July 21st, 2007. He earned an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a B.A. from DePauw University. He is currently at work on a novel, a poetry collaboration, and other projects. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and three children surrounded by old-growth beech and maples. See more of Kevin's work on his personal webpage.

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