Michelle Lynch is a writer, photographer, and educator in the metro NYC area. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. Her poetry has appeared in NonBinary Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, Memoryhouse Magazine, San Pedro River Review, Quarterly Journal, Heron Tree Review, Lunch Ticket, among other lovely places.

Her poem, "The Beekeepers," was published by MoonLit Getaway in October of 2024.

INTERVIEW

MG: What got you into poetry?

ML: I grew up with cows and other domestic farm animals in my backyard. One day, when I was in fifth grade, I heard our neighbour Bill shouting that he needed help with a cow that was calving. I ignored it at first, thinking that an adult would help, but by his third shout, I realized it was going to have to be me. The calf was in a breech position, and Bill needed me to put all my weight across the mother's shoulders and neck and keep her calm while he reached in and turned the calf. I can still remember what it felt like to lay cheek-to-cheek with her while she struggled to birth new life. It was likely the first time I had experienced being truly awe-struck. Afterwards, I ran back to the house and wrote a poem about it. I don't remember making a choice, just picking up the pencil and losing sense of anything else. I wrote about witnessing a miracle, though no angels were involved. Reading it now, I can see the beginnings of me grappling with religion and the metaphysical world, and my delight in metaphor and personification. It was a pivotal moment that defined which art I'd embrace to explain the depths of the world before my eyes and the one cracking open inside me. 

MG: Tell us more about “The Beekeepers”—what inspired it? What makes it unique?

ML: One evening, while camping at a magnificent South Carolina barrier island called Hunting Island, I exited the tent in the middle of the night and found myself with fireflies all around me and a few raccoons running by. It was like being inside one of landscape photographer Daniel Kordan's incredible Japanese forest firefly photos. All the illuminated yellow made me think of bees, and then, like what often happens when I'm immersed in nature at a primal level, I started to panic. I worried about the bees and wondered if we'd save them in time. That was the seed. It's difficult to define the uniqueness of my poem, but I hope this offers a unique perspective to its readers.

MG: Are you currently working on anything else?

ML: As a neurodiverse writer with ADHD, I have way more projects on the table than I can work on. Having a close relationship with the muse is a nice problem, but I wager she's frustrated with my completion rate! Aside from a manuscript, every writer's ongoing labor of love, some projects I'm being strongly drawn to right now are curating a gallery of my street photography and writing an illustrated children's story.

MG: What’s your favorite piece you've ever made? Why is it your favorite?

ML: It's so hard for me to pick a favorite of anything, but a poem that means a great deal to me and I would list as among my favorites is (Gestation: 43 years), which found a lovely home at Quarterly Journal. I started the poem in 2014 while in graduate school. I had just gone through some heavy life stuff and the poem offered me a ladder out of the small, shadowed space. It also taught me how to be a better editor of my poems. I came kicking and screaming to editing, but now I'm a bit obsessed with it.

MG: Are there any poets that inspire the way you make your pieces?

ML: I am inspired by so many different poets. I love what novelist Tishani Doshi said about being in conversation with other writers - "I always think of it as a kind of seance that you can call upon these people at different times in your career and in different stages and some travel with you always, and some are, you know more at a different time you need a different kind of writer, a different voice..." Some of the poets gathered at my seance table are Pablo Neruda, W.S. Merwin, Mary Ruefle, Seamus Heany, T.S. Eliot, Louise Glück, Rumi, Ada Limón, Shakespeare, Ocean Voung, Mary Oliver, Naomi Shihab Nye, Terrance Hayes, Nikki Finney, Lucille Clifton, and Adrienne Rich.

MG: Do you have any advice for other poets?

ML: Well, I know my answer is antithetical to a standard line of thinking that says you have to put your butt in the chair and pen to paper every day. I support that advice for the writers whose style and personality fit it. Find your way. Maybe wandering through an art gallery sparks the fire or taking a long run with music blaring in your ears opens your mind to the space beyond where your brain is conditioned to live. Or maybe you need to collage your way to a poem or rock a baby in the quietest part of the night. Sometimes, I need to cook for the people I love to find the last line. Don't spend all your time trying to fit a mold so that you miss the breathtaking, heartbreaking, exquisite journey it is to craft a poem.

MG: Do you have any social media you'd like to share?

ML: web: www.michellelynchcreative.com (mobile capability coming soon!)

Instagram/Threads: @thirtyminutesnyc (for street photography), @biotink (personal)

Read "The Beekeepers" by Michelle Lynch