Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Reflecting on “Echoes & Shadows,” an artistic collaboration October 22, 2025

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This shows a portion of “Wisconsin Sunset,” painted by Kate Douglas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

WHEN LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTISTS collaborate, something beautiful happens. That was evident to me in viewing “Echoes & Shadows,” a poetry and art collaboration at FiftyNorth Gallery in Northfield. In this exhibit at the senior center, visual artists created art inspired by original poetry. The results are fascinating.

Here are some lines from Northfield poet Becky Boling’s poem, “Red Prairie,” inspired by “Wisconsin Sunset.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

As a long-time writer and photographer, who is also a published poet, I’ve participated in similar collabs in nearby Zumbrota. I found it a whole lot of fun not only to write poems, but especially to see how an artist interpreted my poetry. I expect those participating in this pairing of poetry and visual art in Northfield feel the same. The work in this show is visual art inspiring poetry.

“Brave,” a poem by Orick Petersen, is paired with Sharon Henry’s painting, “The Bead Lady.”
This shows several lines from a thought-provoking poem inspired by an equally thought-provoking photograph of a mother and child by Dean Neuburger. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
Marty Amundson’s watercolor and ink, “Sisters Still,” inspired Marie Gery’s poem, “30th High School Reunion.”

I feel fortunate to live in a region rich in the arts. The arts expose us to new ideas, thoughts, beauty and more. The arts open us to a world wide beyond our own. The arts can serve as a catalyst for positive change. The arts represent voice, a way for us to speak via our creativity.

Art and poetry stretch along a hallway at FiftyNorth. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

In “Echoes & Shadows,” artists express themselves in carefully crafted words and in a variety of visual art that seems to fit its inspirational poetry. Painting, appliqueing, woodworking, photography, collage…all are part of this collaboration.

Lake Superior in northern Minnesota inspired Kathy Weed to create “Moon Glow” in textile art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
And then Jane Sarles Larson wrote “Circling Back” to pair with Kathy Weed’s art. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)
More knots…Judy Saye-Willis’ necklace inspired Marie Gery’s poem, “Knotty Reality.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

I like that word, “collaboration.” It means working together. Even that seems especially meaningful today.

Riki Kolbl Nelson’s “Conversation” acrylic and collage of a rooster and angel inspired Chuck Huff to write “Tilt and Meridian.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

In this pairing of art and poetry, I see collaboration, how literary art and visual art play off and balance one another, centering the two pieces of art into one unified piece without sacrificing individuality. Creatives are, after all, uniquely creative even when working together.

Barbara Bauer’s encaustic medium art inspired D.E. Green to write “Stand of Birches.” (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

Promotional information about the FiftyNorth poetry and art collaboration, “Echoes & Shadows,” references a quote from poet Carl Sandburg: “Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” Oh, how lovely those words. And how fitting for a collaboration that echoes and dances.

Pairings of poetry and art by Riki Kolbl Nelson, left, with poem by Chuck Huff and a barn painting by Robert Nyvall with accompanying poem, “We Are Older Now,” by Deb Muotka on the right. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo October 2025)

FYI: The “Echoes & Shadows” exhibit closes on October 31. To view the exhibit online, click here. Note that I photographed the art and poetry in this post with permission of FiftyNorth. In most cases, I’ve opted to show only part of the creative works. In featuring the poems, I’ve edited the images.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Bilingual poetry reading connects communities May 22, 2024

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(Promo courtesy of Rice County Neighbors United)

POETRY. Say that singular word and most people likely stop listening. But listening is precisely what you should do when you hear “poetry.”

An original poem and photo by Mar Valdecantos, director of Rice County Neighbors United. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2024)

Poems are meant to be read aloud, to be heard. I didn’t always understand that. But when I started attending and participating in poetry readings many years ago, I realized that poems, like music, need to be vocalized to fully experience them.

Rolled up poems were boxed (not bagged) and placed at local businesses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2024)

Thursday evening, May 23, I will be among poets and poetry lovers participating in a community poetry reading at Mercado Local, 108 Fifth St. E., Northfield, to celebrate “Poetry in a Bag!” Through this project of Rice County Neighbors United, original and favorite poems were collected, printed, then distributed to area businesses during National Poetry Month in April and into May. Customers were welcome to take a rolled up poem printed in both English and Spanish.

Mercado Local, located just off Division Street in Northfield. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo April 2024)

So this bilingual project is as much cultural as culture. That’s part of the mission of RCNU—to connect cultures, to increase visibility of immigrants and refugees in the community, to empower them. Mercado Local serves as a home base for the advocacy organization with its store, art center and community room.

A sampling of the merchandise inside the Mercado Local store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2024)

The store will be open during Thursday’s 6:30-7:30 pm gathering in the community space. I’ll be there reading the six original, previously-published poems I submitted for “Poetry in a Bag!” Likewise Northfield poets will read their poems. It’s certain to be a connective experience.

For sale in the store at Mercado Local. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2024)

The free public event also features Hispanic foods and desserts, a sure way to bring people together. Already “Poetry in a Bag!” has done that personally, connecting me with Northfield poets previously unknown to me. I expect to make more new friends on Thursday when I read poetry, listen to poetry, sample Hispanic foods and immerse myself in a culture different than mine.

Plenty of offerings inside the Mercado Local store. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo April 2024)

Two cultures connecting via words and food. Now that’s poetry to my ears, food for my soul.

© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Through a SoMinn Lens August 27, 2019

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AS A CREATIVE, I always appreciate the opportunity to get my work out to a broader audience. I want to share my images and words. Not because I possess some big ego. But rather I want others to view the world around them through an artful perspective. With joy. With appreciation. Through the creative lens of a writer and photographer who seeks to notice the details within the wider picture, to engage all the senses. I strive for that in my art.

My newest creative endeavor landed me at Southern Minn Scene, a Southern Minnesota arts, entertainment and lifestyle magazine. The publication’s coverage area stretches from just south of the Twin Cities metro to the Minnesota/Iowa border and from the Mississippi River on the east to Mankato on the west (although I aim to stretch that western boundary farther west toward my native prairie).

Each month I’ll craft a photo essay, accompanied by several paragraphs of text, in a column titled Through a SoMinn Lens. If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, you’ll see familiar images. And other photos I haven’t previously published here. All the copy, though, will be new with my column leaning toward poetic prose. As a published poet, I value that art form. Journalistic style writing is reserved for the occasional features I will also pen for Southern Minn Scene.

 

 

My column debuts in the just-published September issue, which you can read online by clicking here. I focus on Wabasha’s SeptOberfest, a two-month celebration of autumn. I love this Mississippi River town any time of year for its natural and historic beauty, but especially during this family-friendly event.

 

 

I also crafted a feature on the annual Germanfest at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township. That’s east of Faribault and near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. I’ve posted about that ethnic celebration several times here. I love the people of St. John’s. They are friendly, kind, and incredible cooks and bakers. The story proved an ideal fit for this food-themed issue of Southern Minn Scene. Be sure to read other writers’ food-focused stories about tasty desserts in the region to new foods at the Minnesota State Fair.

Beyond that, thank you for valuing art, whether literary, visual or performing. Today, more than ever, we need the arts. They enhance our lives, bring joy, broaden our worlds, our perspectives.

Disclaimer: I am paid for my work published by Southern Minn Scene, but not for this post.

© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

From Faribault: Food art with a literary twist March 30, 2019

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The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck inspired this cookie sheet sized gingerbread man.

 

BOOKS INSPIRED FOOD ART on Saturday at the annual Buckham Memorial Library Edible Books Festival & Competition.

 

A staff entry based on The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.

 

From simple

 

Another detailed family entry based on one of my favorite childhood books.

 

to extraordinarily detailed,

 

The Three Pigs inspired another entry.

 

That Three Pigs entry judged most humorous in the families category.

 

the creativity of the book-based entries always impresses me.

 

The Jungle Book inspired The People’s Choice Award.

 

A close-up of the jungle.

 

The entire The Jungle Book entry.

 

Rules call for artwork to be made only of edible materials, although the entries are meant to be viewed only, not eaten. All must represent a book or a literary theme.

 

Based on the book Prime Cut by Diane Mott Davidson.

 

 

 

Staff entries.

 

This year 14 units—most created by families and the rest by individuals and City of Faribault staff—comprised the festival.

 

 

I especially love that families work together to create their literary masterpieces. While I photographed the event, I watched participating families arrive with parents, grandparents and siblings and pose for photos.

 

One of the many awards given.

 

Based on the book The Hunger Games.

 

A Friends of the Library volunteer served book-themed cake to guests.

 

Anytime kids get excited about books and the library is, in my opinion, a win. To read and to love reading opens the doors to learning and growing your world, your education, your imagination. And your creativity.

© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Eleven magnetic words equal a poem January 24, 2019

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SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I purchased a duo Tootsie Toy magnetic board/chalkboard at an Owatonna thrift shop. I didn’t need it. But I liked the vintage look and the possibilities. Those reasons sufficed to hand over a few bucks.

 

 

Along with the board came a bonus baggie of magnetic words. They aren’t original to the board but probably were thrown in because what else do you do with a bunch of donated stray magnetic words?

I finally got around to making poetry with them. Here’s my first poem, which I posted on my refrigerator:

 

 

This proved a good challenge—to use the limited words to create poetry. (Pretend a question mark ends the first line.)

 

 

As poets understand, poetry requires tight writing. A word must hold value or out it goes. Poetry writing may seem easy to those not engaged in the craft. But it’s not. Penning poems requires focused skill and much practice as one of the most disciplined forms of literary art.

Thoughts?

© 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

An aha moment while reading poetry January 15, 2019

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Mira Frank reads the works of published Minnesota poets, here from County Lines during an event at the Treaty Site History Center in St. Peter in August 2016. I also read. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2016.

 

MANY TIMES I’VE READ my poetry aloud at events. I’m not a fan of public speaking. But it’s getting easier to stand before an audience and share what I’ve written. Practice helps.

When I read six poems at Content Bookstore in Northfield several days ago, I experienced a real connection with the audience. I don’t know if it was the intimate setting in a cozy independent bookstore or the people in attendance or the poems I selected or my frame of mind. Probably all. But something clicked that made me realize my poetry meant something to those hearing it.

 

Five of my works (poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction) published in Volume 26 of The Talking Stick, Fine Lines.

 

This proved a profound moment—to recognize that words I crafted into poetry sparked emotional reactions. I had created art. Literary art.

People laughed when I read a poem about my 40th high school class reunion and selecting “Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road” as our class song.

 

TS 19 in which my poem, “Hit-and-Run,” received honorable mention.

 

But, when I read an especially powerful, personal poem titled “Hit-And-Run,” I observed facial expressions change to deep concern, even fear. I struggled to get through the poem about my son who was struck by a car in 2006. I glanced at his then middle school science teacher sitting in the audience and remembered the support she gave our family. When I finished the final lines of the poem with an angled police car blocking the road to my boy, I sensed a collective sadness. I felt compelled to tell the audience, “He was OK.”

After that, I composed myself to read four additional poems. I read with inflection, with all the emotion a writer feels when writing a poem. I unleashed those feelings into spoken words. Words that, when verbalized, hold power beyond print. Poetry, I understood, is meant to be read aloud to fully appreciate its artistic value.

© Copyright 2019 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Bringing poetry to the people in Mankato & I’m in January 19, 2018

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NEARLY SIX MONTHS have passed since I stopped at Spring Lake Park in North Mankato to view my poem posted there as part of the Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride.

 

The post just to the front left of the car holds a sign with my poem printed thereon.

 

 

Looking back across the lake toward the willows and my nearby poetry sign.

 

Located at the edge of a parking lot next to a trail and within a stone’s throw of drooping weeping willows, my award-winning poem about detasseling corn contrasts with the tranquil setting of lake and lawn separated by bullrushes flagged by cattails.

 

The Sibley Farm playground inside Sibley Park features these cornstalk climbing apparatus. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

The poem may have been more appropriately placed next to cornstalk climbing apparatus at the Sibley Farm playground in Mankato’s Sibley Park.

 

A beautiful setting for poetry.

 

 

 

Still, I am grateful for this opportunity to get my poetry out there in a public place. This placement of selected poems along recreational trails and in parks in Mankato and North Mankato brings poetry to people in an approachable and everyday way. That is the beauty of this project—the accessibility, the exposure in outdoor spaces, the flawless weaving of words into the landscape.

 

Inside a southern Minnesota cornfield. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

My poem, as with much of my writing, reflects a strong sense of place. In Cornfield Memories, I take the reader into a southwestern Minnesota cornfield to experience detasseling corn, a job I worked several summers as a teenager. It’s hard work yanking tassels from corn stalks in the dew of the morning and then in the scorching sun of a July afternoon. All for $1.25/ hour back in the day.

 

My poem, Bandwagon, previously posted at Lion’s Park in Mankato as part of a previous Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo 2014.

 

My poem shares rural history, a story, an experience. Just as my past poems—The Thrill of Vertical, Off to Mankato to “get an education” and Bandwagon—selected as part of previous Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride contests did.

 

 

I value public art projects like the Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride. Not only as a poet, but as an appreciator of the literary arts. Poetry doesn’t need to be stuffy and mysterious. And this project proves that.

I’D LIKE TO HEAR your thoughts on bringing poetry to the public in creative ways like this. Have you seen a similar project? Would you stop to read poems posted in public spots?

NOTE: All photos were taken in early September, within weeks of the 2017 Poetry Walk & Ride poems being posted.

© Copyright 2018 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Poetry in Minnesota beyond the classroom, beyond anthologies March 21, 2017

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I EXPECT MANY OF YOU dislike poetry. You sat in a high school English class bored to death by the required reading of poems you didn’t understand. Or worse, you had to pen a haiku or a rhyming poem or free verse. And then you had to take a test. You couldn’t wait until the poetry unit was done.

You struggled. You didn’t care. I get it. I felt that way about math. But poetry I’ve always embraced. I am grateful for the educators who taught, and continue to teach, poetry to resistant students.

 

Sidewalk poetry in downtown Northfield. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

If you’re one of those non-poetry people, I hope you’ll give this literary art a second chance. Poetry is certainly less rigid and stuffy than years ago. It’s also much more accessible beyond a collection published in a book. Now you’ll find poetry creatively presented in videos such as Minneapolis-based Motionpoems; online in Gyroscope Review, co-founded and co-edited by a Minnesotan; imprinted in sidewalks in cities like Northfield and St. Paul and Mankato; and more.

 

A graphic I created for Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

Cardboard walls that once held poetry inside an intellectual box have collapsed and been recycled. The result is poetry that maybe, just maybe, you will find approachable, understandable and enjoyable.

 

My poem, “Bandwagon,” posted in 2014 in Lion’s Park in Mankato as part of the Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride. The poems are changed annually. Each poem must be 18 lines or less with no more than 40 characters per line. They must also be themed to the area. “Bandwagon” was inspired by a Mankato TV show by that name. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

Take the 2017 Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride. I’ll join other poets at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at the Emy Frentz Arts Guild Gallery in Mankato for a poetry reading and awards reception. I’ll read my poem, “Cornfield Memories,” which won honorable mention. While that’s an honor, the truly exciting aspect of this project is the public accessibility and visibility of poetry.

Michael Torres, a CantoMundo fellow, creative writing teacher and co-host of art workshops for homeless and at-risk youth in the Mankato area, selected 29 poems from about 70 submissions for inclusion in the Poetry Walk & Ride. The poems will be posted on signs along recreational trails in Mankato and North Mankato. This endeavor brings poetry to people in parks, playgrounds and other outdoor spaces in an unassuming way. What a great idea. Poems cover a broad range of topics from experiencing the outdoors to Minnesota to water, says Erin Dorney, writer and project organizer.

 

My poem initially printed in In Retrospect, The Talking Stick, Volume 22, an anthology published by The Jackpine Writers’ Bloc based in northern Minnesota, has been crafted into a song by Rochester, Minnesota composer David Kassler. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.

 

The next day, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 24, poetry will also be showcased publicly, this time at a concert. My poem, “The Farmer’s Song,” is among seven being sung by a chamber choir at the Hill Theater at Rochester Community and Technical College. Admission is $7.50. The same concert will be presented for a free-will offering at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 26, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rochester. I’ll attend that Sunday concert and read my poem. A reception follows the Sunday concert.

I appreciate that Rochester composer David Kassler invested considerable time in creating choral settings for selected poems. It’s just one more way to bring poetry to the people of Minnesota in an inviting public way. Please join me and other Minnesotans in celebrating poetry at either or both events.

TELL ME: What’s your attitude toward poetry?

© Copyright 2017 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

Thoughts on writing a winning poem August 19, 2013

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EVERY TIME I PEN a poem, I wonder, will it inspire, touch, resonate with the reader? Is my poem worthy to be seen by others? Is the poem truly finished, ready to reveal? Or should I hold on to it longer, refine it, anguish over whether I’ve chosen the right word, the right phrase?

At some point I must tell myself, “You’re done.” I must make that leap of faith, overcome those self doubts and share what I’ve written.

For me that usually comes in entering a poetry competition. Even if I’m confident I’ve written a decent poem, it’s still scary to put yourself out there. But I have and I’ve discovered, in the process, that I can write poetry.

My award.

My most recent award. You can click on the “About” section of my blog to see the other honors I’ve garnered for my poetry. Photo courtesy of Sue Ready.

That was reaffirmed for me again this past Saturday when my poem, “Lilacs,” was selected as one of six Works of Merit in the sixth annual Poetry Recognition Event during the Northwoods Art and Book Festival in Hackensack.

Attendees at the Northwoods Art & Book Festival view showcased poems and then vote for their favorite in the Popular Choice awards.

Attendees at the Northwoods Art & Book Festival view showcased poems and then vote for their favorite in the Popular Choice awards. Photo courtesy of Sue Ready.

I’m in the company of other Minnesota poets, Louise Bottrell, Marlys Guimaraes, Miriam Kagol, Joanne Moren and Candace Simar, chosen by a poetry committee for the merit honor.

Lilac, close-up

Sweet lilacs.

As I often do, I turned to my past, to my memories of growing up on a southwestern Minnesota farm, to write “Lilacs.” I remembered the annual gathering of lilacs from the bush on my Uncle Mike’s farm, the next field over. And I connected that memory to today:

Lilacs

Breathing in the heady scent of lilacs each May,
I remember my bachelor uncle and the gnarled bushes,
heavy with purple blooms, that embraced his front porch
and held the promises of sweet love never experienced.

He invited his sister-in-law, my mother, to clip lilacs,
to enfold great sweeps of flowers into her arms,
to set a still life painting upon the Formica kitchen table,
romance perfuming our cow-scented farmhouse.

Such memories linger as my own love, decades later,
pulls a jackknife from the pocket of his stained jeans,
balances on the tips of his soiled Red Wing work shoes,
clips and gathers great sweeps of lilacs into his arms.

Plenty of lilacs to gather in the spring.

Plenty of lilacs to gather in the spring.

To read poems by two of the other merit winners, click here to reach the website of Poetry Committee Chair Sue Ready, herself a poet. The winning poems will also be published in Hackensack area newspapers.

I am grateful to those like Sue and others and to the Northwoods Arts Council, which sponsors events like that in Hackensack. Without these opportunities, I might still be that poet wondering if my poetry rates as good enough for anyone to read other than me.

Copyright 2013 Audrey Kletscher Helbling