More on Minnesota--Land of 10,000 Lake by Ollie Schminkey--National Poetry Month 2026

 

Photo by Matt Reed on Unsplash in The Writer's Journey by Laura Davis.

They/them may be the anti Amanda Gorman with her tats, piercings, weird hair, and what-the-fug-are-you-staring at vibe.  Definitely ready to take it to the Man in the streets but as rooted in Minnesota Nice as Tim Walsh or that tater tot hot dish.

"Ollie Schminkey is a nonbinary transgender poet, musician, ceramist, and instructor based in St. Paul, Minnesota. They are the author of two full-length poetry collections, Where I Dry the Flowers (Button Poetry, 2024) and Dead Dad Jokes (Button Poetry, 2021), which was shortlisted for both the Midwest Independent Publishers Association and the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize, as well as four chapbooks. Schminkey has spent over a decade coaching, mentoring, and teaching poets, and they facilitate Well-Placed Commas, a free weekly writing workshop serving primarily queer and trans writers. They are the founder and director of Midwest Poetry Mash-Up, a national slam poetry tournament, and winner of the 2024-25 Palette Previously Published Poem Prize. Their work has been featured in Poets.org, Frontier Poetry, and numerous other publications, with their poetry performances garnering over 3 million views on YouTube. Schminkey's work has been supported by grants from the Minnesota Regional Arts Council and the Minnesota State Arts Board."--from The Writer's Journey by Laura Davis. 

Ollie Schminkey.

Land of 10,000 Lakes

land of cabins & bonfires & beer

land of ope & you betcha & i'm just gonna sneak right past ya

land of cream of mushroom soup

land of tater tot hot dish

land of shoveling your neighbor's sidewalk

land of holding open the door

land of the loon's call across the lake

land of the northern lights painting the sky

land of the wilderness & the wild

land of the mississippi river's birth

land of small things turning mighty

land of teargas pluming against an umbrella

land of children too scared to go to school

land of blood on the car's headrest

land of boots & camo & guns

land of SUVs flooding the streets

land of masked men at my favorite gas station

land of masked men demanding to see your papers

land of masked men kicking doors down

land of masked men choking people i know

land of masked men brutalizing high school students

land of whistles shrieking in the night

land of whistles shrieking in the morning

land of whistles shrieking in the afternoon

land of crying in your car

land of bullets & shovels & brooms

land of people stolen from their cars & their jobs & their homes

land of those who are left

land of neighbors

land of this is your home, no matter where you come from

land of whistles

land of crowds

land of kicking the teargas back under the SUV

land of sex-shop-turned-community-center

land of grocery store drops offs

land of community patrol

land of signal chats & zines

land of printing in multiple languages

land of you belong here & we will prove it

land of proving it

land of learning that love is a verb

land of finding out exactly who you are

& what you are made of

land of drums & song & rally

land of all night noise outside of any hotel

that dares house the devil

land of ICE agents slipping on the ice

land of winter & frostbite

land of nature as our first love & ally

land of tater tot hot dish, discreetly delivered

land of cabins, offered for a safe place to rest

land of the northern lights, our cell phone screens

flashing luminous across the internet as we film

land of 10,000 neighbors

land of small things turning mighty

land of the minnesota goodbye:

didn't you know?

we are bad at saying goodbye to those we love.

we could stay here all night, shoes on in the entryway,

refusing to open the door.

         --Ollie Schminkey