Please join Synkroniciti in welcoming writer and poet Stephen Lottridge of Wyoming with “The Old Montague Trail,” a poem celebrating the connection he feels to his mother. Stephen shows us how an object, in this case a fishing pole, can be a catalyst for memory. “Against all sage counsel,/ I become attached to things.” Putting it together in his backyard, he finds himself in the great rivers of the western United States with his mother, full of joy and life. “My body hangs in the/ eternal present, the sun warm on/ my shoulders…” Nature is a major part of the connection, being, in a profound sense, a mother to all of us. Stephen’s poetry is supple, yet dramatic, akin to the inspired oration one finds in emotionally captivating theatrical monologues. He uses the names of great western rivers to build rhythmic motion, recalling the movement of water and, by extension, time itself. There is a great deal of resonance, in all senses of the word, present in his work.
Read “The Old Montague Trail” in Synkroniciti’s “Family” issue, available here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/. I am thrilled that we were able to work a couple of photos of Stephen’s mother fishing into the layout, adding a dimension to Stephen’s powerful verses.
Stephen Lottridge is a former professor of Slavic languages and literatures and a retired clinical psychologist. Educated on the coasts, he is a native of the mountain and sagebrush west. A resident of Wyoming for the last thirty-six years, he is the father of three grown, adopted children. He is an actor, director and playwright, as well as a writer. He has published three books of creative nonfiction, and is working on a collection of poetry. While age has slowed his hiking, he still practices Qi Gong and Tai Chi, rides his bike, plays with his cat, Teddy, and leads book discussion groups.