Michael R. Collings is a man of letters in the classic sense — a critic, poet, teacher, editor, bibliographer and lecturer. He’s written many poems dealing with specific Mormon themes, but much of his work seems to not be readily accessible online. Here are three poems that provide a good introduction to his work, which often relies on striking images from the natural world, a tumbling of words, and a creeping sense of something looming (sometimes horror, sometimes other things). Enjoy. You might also find this 2004 Pepperdine magazine feature on Collings and his work interesting.
Also: some good poems have been submitted so far, but we’re light on work from the Dialogue, Sunstone and Ensign archives. If anybody is in the mood to go digging for hidden treasures, I’d much appreciate it.
Title: Tornado Weather; Memorial Day, May 1954; and MEADOWLARK
Poet: Michael R. Collings
Publication Info: Maverick Magazine, July 10, 2004
Submitted by: Theric Jepson
Why?: Th. writes: “.
Collings is one of my favorite Mormon poets and these are the only three I know of online. Any one could be fun to discuss.”
Participate:
Here’s the link to the spreadsheet so you can see what’s already been submitted
A Motley Vision 
Th.
On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity
http://allpoetry.com/poem/5285921
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Which led me to this buncha his poems:
http://allpoetry.com/micol
Michael R. Collings’ new(ish) website is:
http://www.starshineandshadows.com
Providentially, this week he’s featuring an essay on his Epyllion in Anamnesis: The Taliesin Poems, which in part retells the Joseph Smith/Nauvoo story in the guise of King Arthur/Camelot. The poems are reprinted in the essay as well.
Taliesin is my favorite of Collings’ works.
“And now that he is gone, where is the whiteness
on the hill? or stone suns and moons and stars
he willed to _be_?”
— Lee Allred
Thanks for bringing this up, Lee. I tried to check Starshine and Shadows on my lunchbreak at work, but the site was blocked by the nanny filter — something about the occult.
Wow, I got my reading merit badge from him about 20 years ago and didn’t realize that he was this cool…
.
It’s about time he put a new essay up. The last one was good but18+months old…..
Thanks for the article and the responses to StarShine and Shadows (which has an article about my son’s online fantasy novel). I just got word from the publisher that IN THE VOID, a collection of SF/F/H poetry over the past few years, is now out. Haven’t seen a copy yet but I’m looking forward to it.