The Island City (Paperback)

The Island City is a short volume of poetry which highlights the simple joys of a summer weekend on a lake at a cabin in western Wisconsin. Michael Hofmeister stated this regarding the impromptu nature of the creation of the book: "I hadn't intended on writing a book at all - it just happened. The first night at the cabin, after everyone had gone to bed, it was absolutely perfect outside, so I went to the screen porch, sat down, turned on a small lamp and listened to the night. I started jotting down a few short lyrics about what was happening in the moment as quickly as it was happening - a loon singing, a chorus of frogs, the waves on the lake, the sound of the wind, a june bug trying to reach the light I was was writing by - and so on. I tried to keep it simple and straight to the point - nothing fancy. I continued that pattern the next day and into the next night and before I knew it, I was sitting on quite a few complete or nearly complete poems. It was a fun family weekend on a beautiful lake and I felt very lucky to be able to capture it in this way as well as I could." Set in Cumberland, Wisconsin (which is also known as The Island City) at Camp Brigadoon on Beaver Dam Lake, this book is perfect for anyone who has been fortunate enough to spend any amount of time on a lake in Minnesota or Wisconsin at any point in their lives. Written in a clear and simple language, the poems although short in length are full of character and have an honesty about them that can only be compared to the feeling a day next to the water can evoke.