Professionally, Residential College Lecturer Sarah Messer’s work involves writing, mentoring students and uniting the local poetry community.
But in her free time, she can be found milking goats and catching their kids as they’re birthed at the Buddhist farm and creamery, White Lotus Farms.
Founded in 2007, White Lotus Farms employs organic farming and intentional, mindful agricultural practices. It houses a bakery and creamery on the same land. For the past two years, Messer has been working as a cheese-maker and goat-milker in the creamery and dairy.
“I get to catch the babies when they’re birthed,” Messer says. “It’s pretty awesome.”
When the goats are in heat, they yell a lot. “They just want boyfriends,” Messer smiles. “This fall, all the goats were having boyfriends. They were having dates. They had a very busy social schedule.”
From the chicken who thinks she’s a goat, to favorite goats like Snowdrop, Daisy Mae and Rocky, Messer’s work at White Lotus Farm is done with “mindfulness and care, with a passion for quality and sustainability,” in accordance to the farm’s beliefs.
As a lecturer in the Residential College, Messer works one-on-one with students, providing individualized tutorials and tailored constructive criticism.
“I’m very focused on that person. I can ask, ‘What did you do?’ and then say, ‘Let’s look at that.’ It’s very valuable when someone looks closely at your work.”
Messer always knew she wanted to write. After receiving her Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry, she turned to education to utilize her talents and share them with others.
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“Teaching is great, because I get to teach something I really love and it gives me time to write.”
Messer has published four books — two books of poetry, a memoir and a book of translations. Her latest book of poetry, “Dress Made of Mice,” was released in October.
Additionally, Messer runs the non-profit One Pause Poetry, partnering with the Zell Visiting Writers Series and White Lotus Farms to bring poets like Gary Snyder to the Ann Arbor area.
In all that she does, Messer strives to live each day by the Buddhist principles of intentionality, beauty, truth and goodness. “This is the goal. I fail all the time, but I keep trying.”
Q & A
What moment in the classroom stands out as the most memorable?
The best moments are those when I off-handedly recommend a poem to a student and then the next time I see them, they’ve read it and written something in response. Meaning: reading it helped them and changed their work. I love moments like those — to be able to share the spark of inspiration from one writer to another.
What can’t you live without?
I can’t live without poetry, art, Buddhist practice, nature and animals. The people I love. I also really love coffee, but I supposed I could live without it!
What is your favorite spot on campus?
The RC and the Graduate Library.
What inspires you?
Beauty. Creative, driven people; my teachers; the poet Frederico Garcia Lorca; Buddha; and mountains.
What are you currently reading?
I always read a lot of books at once! On my nightstand: “Trigger Warning” by Neil Gaiman, “Original Innocence” by my teacher, Traktung Yeshe Dorje, and “alphabet (poems)” by Inger Christensen. I am currently translating (with scholar Kidder Smith) Li Bo, so I am reading him, too.
Who had the greatest influence on your career path?
Poet Christopher Merrill was my teacher when I was 18 and he said, “You can be a poet — here’s how.” That did it for me. Sometimes it’s just as simple as being given permission. Or one person seeing in you a potential. I will always be grateful to him.
