Laurie Klein reads her poem “Everything Begins in Water” by

Editor’s Note: “Poems to Listen By” is an audio series where over time we will explore some of the themes in the Poet Laura checklist. “Poems to Listen By” is patron-only content. We are delighted to bring you this first episode of “Buoyancies” as a gift to introduce you to the beautiful work of Laurie Klein. To become a patron and gain access to future (and past) episodes, learn more here.

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Poems to Listen By: Buoyancies—Casting Off

Presented by Laurie Klein

Welcome to “Buoyancies,” our latest series for “Poems to Listen By.” I’m your host, Laurie Klein.

I grew up in a very old, quasi-magical house beside a small lake, dredged from a marsh. Imagine the scent of lake weed, algae, and water lilies, laced with the silty, ripening tang of decaying creatures—life holding hands with death. Oh those gauzy veils of airborne, summer perfume.

Over the next few months I’ll read you poems about that home, recently published in my new collection House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life. It’s all about secrets and shelter, and rising above trauma and the emotions that swamp us.

Despite the shadows, dawn always returns. “How beautiful, how buoyant, and glad is morning.”

Poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon said that. And we recognize that outlook, don’t we, even though it’s sometimes undercut by something more ominous.

Everything Begins in Water

Take one catawampus pier, going gray,
   and several small boats thudding
      against the bumper tires: now imagine

the slosh, the sinewy groan of hemp
   fed through and around
      the boat cleats. Wind uncovers

a pang of silt. Even blind, I could
   clamber aboard. It’s that real. They say
      mooring lines should float . . .

Did they? I don’t recall.
   But fore and aft, it falls to me now
      to cast off. Recoil the ropes. And,

God as my anchor and bench mate,
   facing the dam to the west I pledge
      all freight will be fairly borne. Only,

look past this leaky hull
   and the ghosting corrosion that clouds
      the finish. Beyond this shore,

out where the light cascades
   sheer and true,
      good Uncle Dunkel taught me

to row. What more can be asked
   of the long ago—save this:
      how to remain buoyant?

—Laurie Klein

English actor Malcolm McDowell once said, “I’m not quite as buoyant as I was in my youth.”

To which I reply—and I hope you’ll join me—“But perhaps, I still could be.”

What would lift your spirits today? Will you partake?

You’ve just heard “Everything Begins in Water” from House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life by Laurie Klein. Thanks for briefly immersing with me!

Photo by Mike Beales, Creative Commons license via Flickr. Poem from House of 49 Doors: Entries in a Life by Laurie Klein. Used by permission of Wipf and Stock Publishers, www.wipfandstock.com. Many thanks to Bill Klein for his performance of “Simple Gifts” as well as engineering (and cheering me on).

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Laurie Klein

Laurie Klein inherited her mother's passion for reading aloud. Despite mispronouncing "manure" in Mrs. Englebert's 4th grade class—to hooting derision from classmates as she read Charlotte's Web—she later pursued Theatre Arts at Whitworth University, in Spokane, Washington. "Can you teach me to play 100 characters?" she asked. They did. To this day, Professor Emeritus Pat Stien (now 93), continues to mentor Laurie (soon-to-be 69). As with writing, one never masters the art. Laurie's performance credits stateside and abroad include plays, one-woman shows, storytelling events, poetry readings, audiobooks, videos, and spoken word recordings for albums and public radio.

Latest posts by Laurie Klein (see all)

• Poems to Listen By: Yondering—7: When You Came Back - April 16, 2025
• Poems to Listen By: Yondering—6: Restricted Travel - March 26, 2025
• Poems to Listen By: Yondering—5: Upon Arrival - March 12, 2025