What the Wind Says

About the Book

John Miatech’s poems speak of wild places, of the spiritual relationship between humans and the Earth, of the deeper belief that everything in the natural world is alive and connected, and that you can find this out for yourself if you take the time. Growing up in Michigan, John has lived in California for most of his adult life. This has allowed him to roam the rich landscape of lakes and rivers, deserts, mountains and forests that these two regions provide, giving him a deep bond with the secret places of both areas, and with the voices that speak within their borders.

“Wide open spaces inhabit these poems, mountains, hawks, rain, sky, pancakes, boyhood, John Miatech’s lines leap across the Western landscape and land in the human heart. There’s a common humanity here this reader recognizes, in language that’s accessible and, you could say, unfancy, which these days is the highest praise.”

- Clive Matson, author Let the Crazy Child Write! And Chalcedony’s Songs

“John Miatech is a poet who mines for crystals. He unearths the numinous hidden in solid ground, sifts through layers of memory and presence, then deftly articulates the healing force of what he finds. His poems are masterful distillations of waters that flow from the heart. ‘Once you are a river, everything changes,’ he explains in a poem about the rain.”

- Cynthia Potem, producer of Poetry Basket, kidefm.org

About the Author

John Miatech lives in redwood country, within driving distance of the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Nevadas and the Mojave Desert. John has done many things in his lifetime so far: worked on a farm, loaded trucks, been a construction worker, served in the Navy, had a business field collecting minerals all over the Southwest, and taught every grade from 1st to 12th in several different cultural and economic settings. When John was in first grade, his teacher asked the class what they would like to be when they grew up. While other boys were excited about being a carpenter, or a fireman, or a ball player, John’s reply was that he wanted to be “a grandfather”. To him, even at that early age, a grandfather meant someone who was wise and kind, with the power to nourish others making their way through life. With his poems, John has discovered, with gratitude, that his wish of being “a grandfather” has finally borne fruit.

My interest in poetry began with garage band lyrics, moving into reading and writing poetry in 1969 when a friend introduced me to Robert Bly's Silence in the Snowy Fields. I honed my writing skills through giving readings and attending workshops led by Robert Bly, Robert Creeley, James Wright, Richard Hugo, Leslie Mormon Silko, Etheridge Knight and William Stafford. Recently, I was the winner of the San Francisco Writer's Conference poetry award. I have been published in several journals in the past, as well as having two self published volumes of poetry; Things to Hope For and Waiting for Thunder.

In my working life I have worked on a farm, driven and loaded trucks, worked assembly lines, done construction, owned a small business and taught for over 24 years at every grade level from 1st to 12th. I am presently a high school teacher (special education) in Sebastopol, Ca. I have one daughter, McKenna.