Large Linden Model

  
I ask Linden 
to tell me
          orange ginger bath bomb and turmeric chai,
how to pair teal blazer with mauve pink.
The search box flickers on the screen,
I mean, my window. 

Ticked
by my codependence,
L. waits
until nightfall
The barn light touches every twig:

Hoarfrost,
she offers it branch by branch
instead of blinking letters.

A midnight painting of shadows
and darker shadows
& when I fall back asleep,
Linden stitches me more dreams:

       I’m paddling a see-through kayak
                         through translucent waters
                                          that all lead back to this.

Karen Laudon, Fertile Ground #30, oil on canvas, 60” x 48” 2026

Photo credit: Jim Escalante

Emilie Lindemann is the author of Ghost(ed) Woman & the Electric Purple Pants (Fresh Water Press, 2025) as well as one full-length collection, mother-mailbox (Misty Publications, 2016), and several chapbooks. She holds a PhD in English-Creative Writing from UW Milwaukee and serves as a communications faculty member at Lakeshore College. Emilie collects Lake Michigan beach glass, colorful shoes that bring her joy, and journals that she fills with messy yet heartfelt handwriting. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, son, and border collie. This poem is part of a series in conversation with paintings by visual artist Karen Laudon.