Albuquerque resident Heidi Michaels won first place in the WNMU Undergraduate Creative Writing Contest poetry category for a piece titled “In Indiana Enjambment” and another she calls “New Mexican Sonnet,” which speaks to the beauty of our state during sunset and which is included below.
Heidi is majoring in English so she can tutor people once she has a bachelor’s degree. “I come from an uneducated background. I know how hard it is to struggle, and I want to help others,” she said.
Plus, writing is a natural fit for her. “I think poetry allows me and others to express themselves in a way you can’t when you speak normally. I have a little stutter and am awkward, but I can be more graceful and real with the written word. I know a lot of people feel that way about poetry,” Heidi said.
Before pursuing a degree, she worked retail and in restaurants and was “sometimes a manager.” But then Heidi became handicapped and was homeless for a time. “I had a social difficulty and had to relearn how to talk,” she disclosed.
While attending school, Heidi has been doing janitorial work, both cleaning and supervising. “I haven’t really applied my schooling yet to the type of work I want to do, but that’s my next goal,” she said, noting that she hopes to volunteer as a tutor and is open to the possibilities for a career in writing.
But first, Heidi wants to spend her time at WNMU becoming “more confident and assertive” while considering possible employment pathways. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to study and come to WNMU. I never thought I’d have the opportunity to come to college. I’m just glad to be able to broaden my horizon and learn as much as I can. I hope to be able to apply that to serving in some way,” she said.
New Mexican Sonnet
By Heidi Michaels
In bright love blúe the sky in view at day
The clouds of white, enshróuded gráy eastsíde
In west Sri Lánkan silken glare did ride
At sunset waking sleep saw love is lay.
The rich and ripe green leaves the winds do sound
The pink did glów like melons bright to eat
The vibrant sun did kiss the mountains neat
The trees do clap delight at sunset’s crown.
Before the sun went low, abrupt a crest
Did spring and rise a top the feisty head
Of bird. Ran there across the road in jest
In glee to run, not fly, on earth’s stone beds.
Then once again did turn to where morns’ bright
O Sandia do stay in spell, not night.