RAIN SETS IN BY PATRICIA WALLESVERD 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 140 PREVIEW
PATRICIA WALLESVERD
As a high school English teacher I spent my days helping students discover poetry and find their own voice. We found beauty and wonder in the words of Robert Bly, Sharon Olds, James Wright, Ellen Bass. I studied poetry at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with Richard Behm and Larry Watson and graduated with a degree in secondary education, got married, became a mother, found myself with stacks of papers to grade, and realized life moved faster than I expected. After nearly 40 years immersed in other people’s poetry, I retired from teaching and picked up my own poetry where I left off. These days I write and revise, finding inspiration in the lakes, trees, and wildlife of northern Wisconsin. I’m also lucky to be part of a group of writers whose encouragement keeps me writing.