Synkroniciti is excited to welcome back Californian poet Emilie Lygren, who debuted with us in “Curiosity,” with a trilogy of poems exploring gender fluidity. “Sediment” describes a roadside outcrop where two types of rock come together, showing the variety underlying the surrounding landscape. Our narrator is drawn into kinship with the outcrop, suddenly revealing themself through poetry: “I’m the crack in those/ two songs of stone./ I’m boy and girl/ and all the mud/ in between.” In “invocation,” a lovely visual poem, Emilie delights in the freedom of nature, which does not look for human approval, and invokes this freedom in human society and interaction: “gone/ some people wish I were gone/ like clean air gone/ like hope for rain this year gone/ this euphoric explosion/ of gender/ uncontained/ fearless/ reliable/ don’t let it scare you.” The final poem is “Camouflage” and speaks of passing as a girl: “I can blend so hard I disappear/ let dresses of soft fabric/ swoosh around my knees/ hair grown long like lichen/ dripping off trees.” Passing creates a sense of safety at the price of being seen as an individual and truly appreciated.
Emilie’s poetry ripples and dances, full of repetition, pulsing rhythm and the occasional well-placed rhyme. She pulls her imagery from nature and speaks in a conversational tone, creating a voice that is part science educator, part sprite, and completely human.
Read Emilie’s captivating poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Identity” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
Emilie Lygren is a poet and outdoor educator who is deeply curious about spiderwebs, people, and moving water. In her teaching and writing, Emilie focuses on the intersections between scientific observations and poetic wonder. She also loves cooking, walking, napping in hammocks, and talking to strangers. If you ever meet Emilie, she would love to hear a story about a special tree you’ve met at some point in your life. In return, she will tell you about a sycamore.
Emilie’s first book of poetry, What We Were Born For, was chosen by the Young People’s Poet Laureate as the February 2022 book pick for the Poetry Foundation.