hika.

Elsa Johnson is the author of “lemonade,” which will be included in the 2025 fall preview. 

The concept of a plant being sustained on lemonade is very unique, so what was the inspiration behind your poem?

I really like the idea of mixing nature with man-made stuff. Like the lemonade and the lime juice, they come from nature and lemons and limes grow on trees, but then also mixing that with the idea of pollution into the tree’s root systems. And honestly, this poem came from a prompt, so it was very randomized, but then I sort of just ran with it. 

So do you like to write a lot of poems with themes of nature, or was that part of the prompt? 

I’d say it comes up in my writing a lot, but it’s not like one of my main focuses. 

What are other themes that you like to explore? Or themes that you want to explore in the future? 

I really like exploring the ideas between the human experience and the outside world. So a lot of my writing basically comes from personal experiences, but also how we interact with the world around us. But I definitely want to be more intentional in my writing in the future, like with specific themes, because then you can delve into specific themes and then go hundreds of different places from there. And I really want to dedicate more time to doing that. 

How did you get into writing? 

So I’d say, I would attribute it to my fifth grade language teacher, Mr. Peterson. I love him. We did a bit of poetry in that class and then I sort of just went from there and I never stopped writing, but my parents would tell you that I’ve been writing poetry since I could write.

Is there a piece that you’re most proud of? 

I’d say either this piece, lemonade, or another piece I wrote right around the same time. They both got recognition at the Iowa Scholastic Writers Awards.
Neither of them got the highest recognition, but I’m really proud of that. 

Do you mind walking me through your writing process? 

Yeah, so, when I was writing this piece and like the other pieces I mentioned that I was writing at the same time, those came from a prompt. But also, if I just feel the need to write and I get a specific inspiration from something that’s happening around me, if my mind is in the zone, then I’ll just take things around me that are going through my mind and sort of try to translate them. I try not to use words that necessarily spell it out because poetry is all about delving deeper and reading in between the lines. So, I like to try and find words for that and then kind of just go from there, see where it takes me. Then I’ll go back a couple days later and reread it, and maybe add on more or write more or change it around a little bit. And then if I need to take it elsewhere, like show it to someone or submit it to something, then I’ll go back and revise it. 

Do you have any favorite poets or works that you think inspire your writing style? 


This is hard,
because there are so many different authors and poets. P.B. Shelley, I’d say inspires me a little bit. It’s very much not the same writing style, but I really like his work. Mary Oliver also, and Sylvia Plath. 

Do you have any other writing aspirations going forward? 


I really want to dedicate more time to intentional writing because getting into class and everything this year, it’s been harder to set aside time just for writing, like outside of writing my essays for class. But I think it’s really important to dedicate time, not just to like writing freely, but to writing from a prompt and seeing where that takes you. I definitely want to do more of that. And then exploring different themes, like I mentioned earlier. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your piece or writing in general? 


I’d say to anyone who thinks they’re not a poet, I think everyone can be a poet, and that’s such a misconception. I feel like there’s also a lot of judgment in the writing community of other people who maybe don’t write as much and it’s seen as not good or not quality writing. But I feel like that’s just an irrelevant opinion to have because everyone’s writing is worth something and everyone can get better at writing too. I don’t see the point in judging others’ writing even if they’re not a full-time writer.