@steveskafte
Ardent explorer of misplaced memories. Uninterrupted daily journal since 2007. These are excerpts from the full posts on Instagram, Facebook, Patreon, and Substack. Signed books here: etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
The best albums ever? Well, these are the ones for me, at least! Often, the music I love most is scattered over countless albums, but these are a bunch I always listen straight through. Here's a playlist with 3 songs from each: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7tnjYkD4RzWf5nbCbNeEaBrmRJnAkeJu
SEEMING SUDDEN —— The days just before the melt seem all on pause. Healey's Brook is just a faint trickle, running under ice, low like summer. If I break through now and then, no... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 6, 2026
Outram, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6690 of my daily journal.
INTRUSIVE LIGHT —— In most cases, you never do discover what stops a home from being loved. But this one has had some effort to keep the past on pause. Boarded windows and new... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 5, 2026
Freeport, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6689 of my daily journal.
Quiet, personal movies. What are your favourites that fit this description? Perhaps you've enjoyed some of this set that moved me deeply, and are looking for a few more to love! Here's a list I've made: www.imdb.com/list/ls538743545
FUTURE CAIRN —— Anywhere free from snow has been quietly calling. Howling winds on lonesome Long Island help salt spray shake down winter, blown across in restless mist from Tiverton.. [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 5, 2026
Freeport, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6689 of my daily journal.
HIDING THE FACT
what became
of the troublesome boys
I hoped so hard to like me?
they crawled to bed
with their darkest dreams
while I woke from mine more lightly
they stared down... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 5, 2026
Freeport, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6689 of my daily journal.
NEXT NEAREST —— When you're the last stop on a derelict lane, there's no one checking on the infrastructure for you. That how the Brown Brook bridge grew a hole the size of... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 4, 2026
Victoria Harbour, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6688 of my daily journal.
This poem from my very first book — Stray Cat in a Straitjacket (2013) — is the soul of long winter to me, always looking to the sea for an escape. If you want a signed copy, you're in luck, because it's currently on sale for 50% off! etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
LIKE SOLIDARITY —— I was here last week when the water was high, and the broken halves of the long-abandoned Culloden wharf were like islands to each other. Low tide shows the... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 3, 2026
Culloden, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6687 of my daily journal.
TAMEST DREAMS
I see her in
the strangest scenes
wildest woman
in my tamest dreams
she spots me and I'm turned to stone
hard as rock, taken for granite
a naked silhouette
mistaken... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 3, 2026
Culloden, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6687 of my daily journal.
SLOW-MOTION CRASHES —— The most familiar accident aftermath is a sleepy one. Slippery roads that sent someone slowly to the shoulder, before catching an edge and falling in... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 2, 2026
Beaconsfield, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6686 of my daily journal.
DOWNWARD DRAW —— Waiting for spring to break is a state of mind I try to avoid. It often comes almost by surprise anyhow, after heavy rain or a stretch of days when the nights... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
March 2, 2026
St. Croix Cove, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6686 of my daily journal.
Been doing a little redesign work on my website! Check it out for info on my books, upcoming tour dates, and interesting maps I've compiled through the years. If you're ever taking a break from social media, you'll also find a bunch of links in the intro for where to find my daily journal elsewhere.
TIDELINE LIES —— We're slipping steady to the last days of icy cliffsides, waiting on a bit of bright sun to shake them of their burden. While we were here, a less-secure... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 29, 2026
Canada Creek, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6685 of my daily journal.
PENINSULAR PEOPLE —— Recently, I had a public disagreement with someone. It was civic enough, a simple divergence of opinion. But they found the fact that it involved... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 29, 2026
Canada Creek, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6685 of my daily journal.
Support your local venues! Now more than ever. Come out and hear me tell tales from the harrowing and heartfelt pages of my latest book, about folks who overcame the odds to be themselves.
TO THE MELT —— This big old hunk of metal has been run aground here for as long as I remember. Not really sure what it was — some buoy or beacon, maybe. It only shows at the low... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 28, 2026
Outram, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6684 of my daily journal.
BY AND BY —— What became of those who loved this place, and why did they never return? The Kiberd Cabin has a view of the ocean, desperate and windswept, staring from the... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 27, 2026
Litchfield, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6683 of my daily journal.
HUMAN PRACTICE —— Everything ever written on a cabin wall remains. That's the law of bare wood buildings, the slow accumulation of gentle graffiti, never erased. Mostly names... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 27, 2026
Litchfield, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6683 of my daily journal.
KIND OF HOME —— There is a darkness to sunlight that sees straight through me, casting shadows to hide what overcast weather never could. Citizens of this sheltered port lie low... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 26, 2026
Hampton, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6682 of my daily journal.
WHO WILL KEEP YOU
I was born before
the turn of the century
taught to speak up for myself
before the honourable mention me
a young man looking back
as the snow covers his tracks... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 26, 2026
Hampton, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6682 of my daily journal.
Sign up for as long or as little as you'd like. $8 in Canada, $10 worldwide. patreon.com/SteveSkafte
Writing the last of my March postcards for my monthly subscribers! Want to sign up yourself? Check out the replies for info.
Did you know that all of my older poetry books are going out of print? Everything left in stock is on sale for 50% off. This is your last chance to get one. When they're gone, it's for good! Every copy is signed, along with a short handwritten note. etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte
DAYS OR DEPTHS —— The big break came to Culloden exactly three decades ago. It was a wild winter gale in 1996, when crashing waves came to tear the wharf in two. Things had... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 25, 2026
Culloden, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6681 of my daily journal.
EMPTY OF INPUT —— I'm of the mind to be worried, so even if there's nothing to be worried about, I still am. That's what keeps me calm when genuine troubles threaten, an... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 25, 2026
Culloden, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6681 of my daily journal.
PRIDE OF PLACE
some say
history is a statue
and we pull it down
with the past
but Hussein
no longer stands in Iraq
and no German city centre
is watched over by a Hitler
no... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 24, 2026
Spa Springs, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6680 of my daily journal.
EARLY LESSON —— I'm never nostalgic, but it's fascinating the feelings brought on by places rarely returned to since childhood. We used to cut this way biking home from... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 23, 2026
Bridgetown, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6679 of my daily journal.
ME AT ONCE —— I feel particularly free when I'm out in a raging storm. All my senses so distracted that nothing could possibly disturb me. Ears with the roar of wind, eyes to... [Read More: IG, FB, Patreon, Substack]
February 23, 2026
Bridgetown, Nova Scotia
Year 19, Day 6679 of my daily journal.
There's a reason why I describe my upcoming book as "heartfelt and harrowing". At the center of every story of survival, be it mine or someone else's, there was a hard realization to endure. "Outskirts of Ordinary" comes out on April 18. Pre-order direct from me here: etsy.com/shop/SteveSkafte