Poet-In-School, Poet Laureate

Poet-In-School appointed Poet Laureate of Washington State

We are pleased that a dedicated participant to the Skagit River Poetry Project, Kathleen Flenniken, is now Washington State’s Poet Laureate for 2012-2014. More information about this role can be found on the Humanities Washington website.

Read more about Kathleen at her website. Her recent publication Plume has been selected for the Pacific Northwest Poetry Series and will be published in February 2012.

Enjoy one of her poems below which was featured on the Writer’s Almanac in 2010.

Gil’s Story

by Kathleen Flenniken

Gil tells you his story in the company truck
on your first job under his wing.
He cuts the engine and pulls

to the shoulder, which is alarming.
He’s a big man who talks rough all day
to drillers, but you know he’s kind—

everybody in the office says so. Gil’s
a sweetheart, they say without elaboration.
He rolls to a stop and waits,

which prepares you, I think; it wipes
the fake smile off your face. He clears
his throat, then it streams like a steady well—

tha