After intense storms and sleepless nights, beauty can be found in sunlight, new flowers and a fresh morning.
by Beth Copeland | illustration by Lidia Churakova

Beth Copeland is the author of Shibori Blue: Thirty-six Views of The Peak (Redhawk Publications, 2024), Selfie with Cherry (Glass Lyre Press, 2022) and Transcendental Telemarketer (BlazeVOX, 2012). Her poem “Blue Honey,” won a 2017 Dogfish Head Poetry Prize and “Traveling through Glass” was a 1999 Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Award winner. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. “My poem was inspired by a fallen poplar leaf. Green reflects life, growth, and rebirth — it’s a meditation on resolving conflicts with people.”

Lidia Churakova is a visual artist who loves to share her creativity through multiple outlets, such as illustration, painting and murals. Coming from a strong design background with a bachelors degree in Art and Design from North Carolina State University, she approaches projects with a desire to express the emotional narrative through color and light. In her illustration for “Green Heart on a Gravel Road,” she focused on the emotional journey expressed in the poem, moving from a dark storm to a place of light and rejuvenation. “I think this is a very poignant theme that we can all relate to right now.”

This article originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of WALTER magazine