Ruelaine Stokes
Lansing Poet Laureate 2024 - 2026
Welcome!
Ruelaine Stokes is a writer, teacher and performance artist based in Lansing, Michigan. She is a gifted poet, spoken word artist, and arts organizer well-known for bringing innovative and creative poetry programming to the Greater Lansing Area.
Ruelaine has a remarkable ability to bring poetry to life and people to poetry—both on the stage and in classroom settings. Currently, she serves as Lansing Poet Laureate, with the mission of engaging people in the Tri-County Area (Ingham, Clinton and Eaton Counties) with the literary arts.
For decades, she taught English as a Second Language at Michigan State University and at Lansing Community College, as well as within community ESL programs. Since 2015, she has served as the president of the Lansing Poetry Club. Her most recent collection of poetry is Jar of Plenty (2021), and, along with former Lansing Poet Laureate Laura Apol, she co-edited My Secret Lansing (2023), a collection of poetry and prose about the Greater Lansing Area.
Invitation to Enter the “We Are Water” Poetry Contest
Aug. 15, 2025 — Oct. 17, 2025
Residents of the Tri-County Area (Ingham, Clinton & Eaton Counties), age 10 & older, are invited to submit poems celebrating water and/or Lansing’s Tollgate Drain Wetlands . . . or a similar natural environment that features water.
Each poem should mention water in some way, i.e., fresh water—as distinct from the salt water found in oceans.
Prizes:
Five (5) winners will each receive a $150 cash award.
The winning poems will also be featured on Poetry Signs along the walking paths in the Tollgate Drain Wetlands, 1101 N. Fairview Ave., Lansing 48912.
Deadline:
11:59 PM, October 17, 2025
Facts about Fresh Water:
Fresh water accounts for only 3% of the world’s water, and just 1% of that is readily available. About 70% of the world’s fresh water reserves are frozen in Antarctica. Just 3% of it is extracted for human consumption. Agriculture uses roughly two thirds of all fresh water extracted from the environment.
Fresh water can be found in lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, swamps and wetlands, groundwater, glaciers, ice caps, precipitation (rain, snow, hail) and stormwater.
While many organisms can thrive on salt water, the great majority of plants and living creatures need fresh water to survive.
Facts about Tollgate:
The water in the Tollgate Drain Wetlands, located at 1101 North Fairview Ave., Lansing, MI 48912, is stormwater runoff from the surrounding 234-acre watershed. As the water circulates through the streams and ponds in Tollgate, pollution is removed using environmentally-safe means, and clean water is released back to the environment.
