In a quiet corner of the LaRue Library at the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS), a new item now hangs on display: a poem written by Keith Taylor, longtime UMBS professor of Environmental Writing and Great Lakes. As coordinator of the Undergraduate Creative Writing program at the University of Michigan, Taylor has spent his last several summers living in a cabin in the woods, teaching UMBS’s only humanities course.

Now, his poetry is memorialized in the Station’s library. His poem “If the world becomes so bright” now hangs on a wall near a set of tables he frequently visits during the summer semester. The silver type of the poem is printed on a graphic, embossed black paper, mirroring the message of the poem. 

The paper was made and print created by Miami University student Kendra Huspaska, who graduated with a degree in graphic design in 2016. She made the print as part of a project, coordinated by Miami University of Ohio libraries – UMBS librarian Thomas Gerrish (who works at Miami University) submitted Taylor’s poem into the graphic design contest.

After the poem was framed, Taylor hung the piece Monday, August 7, for all Station students, researchers, and visitors to read and ponder.