Obsession with ‘wordsmithing’ prompts 2nd book of poems
by Pelican’s Bob Satterlie 

Bob Satterlie hasn’t quite figured out whether his urge to put words together is a “disease;” or “healthy.”

Either way, one thing is for certain: Satterlie’s poetic impulses are an “obsession.”

“It’s an artistic outlet for me,” said Satterlie, who recently published his second collection of poems. “It’s good, healthy and keeps the creative juices flowing.”

Yet, in the same breath he describes it as something of an illness. 

“Thinking poetically is like a disease,” laughed Satterlie, who has been pastor at Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Pelican Rapids for more than three decades. “But it keeps you going….it’s cathartic, and keeps your mind sharp.”

His poetic impulses aren’t only self-driven.  Folks around him are also lending encouraging voices. 

Pelican Rapids artist Marcella Rose created the cover art for the new book. “She’s said that ‘I think you have a trilogy here,’” said Satterlie. So, if Satterlie keeps the pace of a collection every two years, expect another poetry collection in about 2021. 

“I get a pretty good response, some people seem to really like it…And I’ve even had some affirmation from professionals,” said Satterlie.  

He’s also launched a charming tradition, delivering a “Friday poem” on social media. The weekly presentation has been well received, and people appreciate his light, upbeat wordsmanship.

“It’s really more like pop poetry than serious stuff,” said Satterlie, a California native who is now all Minnesotan–and all Pelican Rapids.

Originally a music student at community college from 1975-1979, Satterlie was introduced to poetry in courses. He was also introduced to Christ in about his junior year.  

“The music and poetry went into the background,” said Satterlie, on becoming a Christian. “Ministry became all consuming.”

He went on to the Trinity Divinity School in Chicago in 1981, and by the mid-1980s, landed in Pelican Rapids. 

After the family’s five boys moved out and onward, Satterlie said he sort of “came out of remission…poetry started coming back to me.”

Satterlie’s new collection is available at Rose Gallery in downtown Pelican Rapids, and also at Pelican Drug. 

Published here, a few of Bob Satterlie’s poems, from his new
collection–published earlier this year 

Community

The Global Village

disguises truth

What do we know

about the other side

of the world?

Only what we’re told

Blogosphere media offers

shallow water knowledge

spun with a purpose

to fit the narrative

I know my neighborhood

having lived here

long enough to embrace

the quirks, nuances,

customer of generations

We don’t all agree

but bound by this thing

called community

we have a chance,

a way to get along

This is harder work

than website ideology

with it’s comic book

villains and heroes

and carfully selected facts

Want to change the world?

Ignore those utopian dreams

Pick on place and stay

until absorbed

Our real hope is the people

already around us

plain truth unspun

Start here

Make it better

Let it change you

Ooglie Googlie

The lady smiled down

over the baker counter,

“And what is your name, little boy?”

I looked up confidently 

and stated with clarity,

“Ooglie Googlie Satterlie”

The cutesy mother’s moniker

had been heard enough to stick

An what a name it is!

Unique, artsy, flamboyant

If I had courage, I would legalized it officially

First name-Ooglie,

middle name-Googlie

the last name must remain,

having come to me from Norway

(History proves it unwise

to anger Norwegians)

I would be famous by name alone

Policeman to wife at dinner:

You wouldn’t believe

who I ticked today

It was right on his license!

Ooglie Googlie Satterlie

They could call me Oog for short

But I am a coward

I did change from Bobby

to Robert in school, for

a more serious, intelligent name,

but moved back to Bob later

Bob…such a common, lazy name

So easy to write, with only

three letter, tow the same

So easy to say, requiring

neither teeth nor tongue

(Admit it, you just proved that

by reciting it to yourself)

Bob is a name in a hammock,

without sicks, and shirt untucked

And so Bob I am, 

lazy, common, simple

But I am not finished

I have plans, big ones,

to go out with a bang

My final dying wish,

(likely never to be granted),

will be to have my gravestone

emblazoned gloriously with

Ooglie Googlie Satterlie

I will be the star of the yard for decades

Canoe Trip

My mind drifts back to

the lakes, rivers, islands

of canoe trips through the

unspoiled Northern waterways

Early muscle ache fades 

to the rhythmic swooshing

of synchronized paddles

Those muscles grow stronger

with the canoe’s fluid glide

through always stunning beauty

There is no exercise on earth more satisfying

Through pristine lakes with

pine boulder islands, through 

winding rivers, wild and alive,

‘round every turn, a breathtaking scene

My first true thoughts of God

were a sunset on Lake Kawnipi

There is no beauty on earth more capivation

Setting up camp in later afternoon,

is an exercise in teamwork-

starting a fire, cooking simple fare

that will never taste better

There is no fellowship on earth more bonding

Paddling and portaging done,

campsite set, the belly is full

It is now campfire time, under

steely starts, beside lapping wter

Through the fire’s smoky crackle

the stories flow until a quiet

mesmerization takes hold

There is no evening on earth more relaxing

Yes, the portages are tough,

the bugs bite, it usually rains

at least once, sometimes storms,

but these are not what the memory holds

when my mind drifts back to

those relaxing, bonding, captivating, satisfying

canoe trips through the 

unspoiled Northern waterways