Cosmogony: A Poem

Cosmogony, 2nd Edition (2025), is a rhyming and metered poem, illustrated with original artwork, for all women who live wild and free. In this narrative poem, the major forces of Nature tell their origin tales to a dreamy teenage girl on a Galveston, Texas beach, and she spins their words into her own tentative life philosophies. Cosmogony is a great example of Johnston’s ability to weave hope and beauty into her writing.

Readers familiar with Johnston’s rerelease of Mental: A Novel (With Original Artwork), 2025, a novel which focuses on one young woman’s determination to be whole and happy, will recognize this poem from Part Two. Reprinted here to spotlight a height of Johnston’s creative skill, this poem is a clever and thought-provoking drama of magical pathos.

Marie K. Johnston is the author of 5 books: Mental: A Novel, Home: A Novel (sequel to Mental), Dandelions: A Poem, and Disaster & Harmony: A Poetry Collection. Look out for the rerelease of all 5 of her books with original artwork in Summer 2025!