Mark Hochmuth, poet in residence of Have Kayaks, Will Travel.

Doesn’t every paddling blog have a poet in residence? Well, we do.

We met Mark Hochmuth at the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium two years ago, when he was a student in our one-coach class (in which a group of students stays with the same coach or coaches for the entire weekend, instead of taking part in the a la carte symposium classes). His enthusiasm and his questions were inspiring, and we had a great weekend with him and nine other participants. He signed up again the next year.

Our one-coach crew from 2014. Mark is second from the right.

In between symposia, Mark sent us poems. Some were about seasons, some about paddling. At one point, he sent us a collection of poems inspired by the Beaufort scale. He doesn’t submit his poems for publication or read them at public events; he just shares them with people he thinks will appreciate them. Which includes us.

After much thought, we asked Mark whether he’d be willing to be our poet in residence, and allow us to publish some of his poems on our blog. And generously (not to mention modestly), he agreed.

So here is the inaugural poem of Mark’s poet in residence program–a poem about a young Arctic explorer from Kalamazoo–that reminds us how fortunate we are to be able to get out in the cold and return safely home.

Thank you, Mark, for agreeing to share these with the paddling public.