I live in Wisconsin, on a drumlin hill of oak savanna and prairie, overlooking farm fields and a wilder glacial lake. One morning, after several days of winter rain, mysterious figures seemed rise out of the misty fields. As I watched, I was filled with a sense of both the presence of those who lived here before me and the land and weather’s animacy. I stood in a thin place; the poem describes that mystery.

Alison Townsend’s books include the PEN/America shortlisted memoir, The Green Hour, Persephone in America, and The Blue Dress. American Lonely is forthcoming from Terrapin Books in 2026.Recognized in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Essays, she is professor emerita of English at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.