Summer Lemke’s poetry is full of the imagery that she sees all around her, from the tiniest bits of nature to the deep feelings of children. For Summer, writing poetry is an escape valve for the inspiration she finds in so many things every day. With so much creative inspiration everywhere, I was curious about Summer’s process for harnessing that creativity and crafting it into expressive poetry. In this interview, her advice for new writers–to write what they feel and write for themselves–resonated with my own experience of creative writing. Sometimes something just needs to come out, some feeling or inspiration, and Summer never misses those opportunities to put pen to paper. 

How did you get started writing poetry?

I found poetry during the most difficult time of my life, as many writers do. As aches and pains took over my jaw, my cheeks, my eyes, my head. Stress from school swam through my veins. I was not cut out for school at that time; I felt there was much more to learn elsewhere. Much more to life. While I laid on the floor in my room with a worksheet reading one question over and over again, I began to realize the balance I found within myself. I realized the tight ropes were not meant for me to walk on. I began writing on that worksheet as my mind flooded. That worksheet was given to my parents on Christmas morning as tears ran down their cheeks. They looked up at me and asked, “you wrote this?” After that day I found myself a journal in the bookstore to allow my thoughts to bleed out.of processing life and my feelings...

Read the rest of Summer's interview and her poems, Ageless and Water and Oil, in I, Enheduanna Issue 3: In Our Hands, available here.