Mike Smetzer

The Trump administration sending ICE to provide security at the Winter Olympics is like the Rolling Stones hiring the Hells Angels to provide security at Altamont.

Yay! So excited! 💕 Cover Reveal Day! 💕😊

(My book is available for preorder at Harlequin, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And it will be online at Target. As well as in Wal-Mart after July 28th, 2026.)

Congratulations, Vera! So proud of you!

#life #humor #anecdote

This December photo by Mike Smetzer shows the less than impressive back side of the Sea Cliff House Motel. This motel is one of many aging ocean-front motels along the miles of sandy beach that includes the town of Old Orchard Beach in southern Maine.

Another photo from the mild December we had in 2023. The Sea Cliff House Motel in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

#MainePhotography #Maine #SouthernMaine #CoastalMaine #MaineCoast #EastCoastKin #NewEngland #CoastalNewEngland #OldOrchardBeach #StreetPhoto #StreetPhotography #winter #december

A photo by Mike Smetzer showing the bandstand at Ocean Park, Maine, in December, 2023.

A shot taken on Dec. 21. 2023, at Ocean Park, Maine. Now that was a very different Christmas season.

#photography #Christmas #OceanPark #SouthernMaine #maine #EastCoastKin #NewEngland

A wish for the winter solstice.

A late-afternoon photo of downtown Knightville (Mill Creek), Maine, by Mike Smetzer. A quiet downtown street is captured, with shops lining one side and a few parked cars visible along the curb. The left side of the street and much of the foreground are shadowed. The right side is in sunlight.

An early-fall photo of #downtown Knightville, #Maine. #Knightville was a village that became part of the city of #SouthPortland.

#photography #Knightville #MillCreek #SouthernMaine #photo #street #StreetPhoto #StreetPhotography #scape #cityscape #UrbanVillage #SmallTown #SundayAfternoon

This late-October photo by Mike Smetzer features a tree along a boardwalk in the foreground. Beyond is the Portland, Maine, skyline. The shot is taken from the South Portland bank of the Fore River at Mill Cove.

The Portland Harbor skyline as seen beyond a boardwalk in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #scape #cityscape #portland #maine #SouthernMaine #PortlandHarbor #SouthPortland #ForeRiver #MillCove #knightville #CoastalMaine #CoastOfMaine #MaineCoast #EastCoastKin #CoastalNewEngland

This photo by Mike Smetzer was taken from Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine. It shows the park and its tiny lighthouse in the foreground and a busy Portland Harbor on the other side of the Fore River. A large cruise ship is docked at the Ocean Gateway, and an island ferry is approaching the Casco Bay terminal from the right.

A #bnw view of #PortlandHarbor, #Maine, in the late afternoon on a mostly cloudy day in October.

#photography #mono #grayscale #greyscale #bw #Black-and-White #blackwhite #BWPhotography #scape #seascape #BugLightPark #SouthPortland #CascoBay #ForeRiver

Thoughts by Mike Smetzer about following Jesus and following Trump.

This autumn photo by Mike Smetzer looks downstream from where Trout Brook enters Mill Creek Park in South Portland, Maine. The Greenbelt Walkway is on the right. Mill Creek Pond is under the open sky to the left.

Trout Brook entering Mill Creek Park in South Portland, Maine.

#autumncolors #LandscapePhoto #landscapephotography #treescape #autumn #scape #SouthPortland #maine #AutumnLeaves #MillCreekPark

This photo by Mike Smetzer shows Trout Brook in South Portland, Maine, with the Greenbelt Walkway on the right.

This shot from October looks down Trout Brook (Mill Creek) in South Portland, Maine. Not a season for much water nor a spot for much color. A peaceful study in browns and greens.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #landscapephotography #treescape #autumn #TroutBrook #SouthPortland #maine #SouthernMaine

This late-October photo by Mike Smetzer shows the mouth of Trout Brook (Mill Creek) from the bridge at Cottage Road in South Portland, Maine. Trout Brook enters Mill Cove along the Fore River between Knightville and Ferry Village in South Portland. Portland Harbor can be seen across the Fore River on the horizon at left, and Ferry Village can be seen across Mill Cove on the horizon at center and on the right. Casco Bay begins out of shot to the right of the harbor.

The mouth of Trout Brook as seen from bridge over the brook at Cottage Road in South Portland, Maine. I framed this shot to include a generous amount of the seed-laden branch at right.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #landscapephotography #autumn #fall #MillCreek #SouthPortland #maine #SouthernMaine

This photo by Mike Smetzer shows Trout Brook (Mill Creek) as it runs along the edge of Mill Creek Park in South Portland, Maine. The Greenbelt walkway is on the left and Mill Creek Pond is out of shot on the right ahead. Autumn has begun, but the late-October trees are still mostly green. A small flock of ducks has taken refuge in the relative privacy of the brook.

Looking up Trout Brook from the bridge at Cottage Road in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #landscapephotography #treescape #autumn #fall #TroutBrook

This color photo by Mike Smetzer shows Trout Brook entering the mouth of Fore River at Mill Cove. Mill Cove separates Knightville and Ferry Village in South Portland, Maine. Portland Harbor is just to the left of the shot, and Casco Bay is just beyond Ferry Village.

Trout Brook entering Mill Cove at the mouth of the Fore River in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #landscapephotography #autumn #fall #TroutBrook #MillCove #ForeRiver #SouthPortland #maine #SouthernMaine

Thoughts about Veteran's Day.

#Veteran'sDay #VeteransDay #ArmisticeDay #WorldWar

"Pure Again" by Mike Smetzer is a spiritual poem about rising above the darkness and losses of the world today.

This is one of my favorite spiritual dreams. It seems a good time to put it up as democracies struggle and dictatorships advance in countries around the world, including my own.

#poetry #spirit #spiritual #dreams #freedom #purity #transcendence

In this late-day photo by Mike Smetzer, dark and moody clouds hang over a tranquil bay with a rocky shoreline in the foreground. A bit of city skyline and a lighthouse appear to the left. The horizon is a line of land made up of islands and the distant shoreline.

A bnw seascape of Casco Bay with Bug Light and Portland Harbor on the far left. The photo was taken late in the day from Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #LandscapePhotography #monochrome #BlackAndWhite #portland #maine #seascape #CascoBay

This photo by Mike Smetzer was taken through a tree on a boardwalk along the South Portland bank of the Fore River at Mill Cove. A wooden fence that runs alongside the boardwalk and a tree with mature leaves boldly occupy the foreground. Below is the grassy shore of the river. The opposite shore is developed, with the city harbor in the distance.

The Portland Harbor skyline as seen through a tree in South Portland, Maine. bnw.

#photography #LandscapePhoto #monochrome #BlackAndWhite #portland #maine

This shadow-and-light photo by Mike Smetzer presents the lily-pad end of Mill Creek Pond in South Portland, Maine. The pond is viewed from under a large tree that frames the image. A sturdy tree trunk anchors the foreground of a monochrome landscape featuring a reflective pond. Tall grasses and lush vegetation surround the water, while dappled sunlight patterns the ground.

A black-and-white photo of one end of Mill Creek Pond in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #landscapephotography #BWPhotography #blackAndWhitePhotography #SouthPortland #maine #pond

Love this shot. Partly because I have used a small job mixer. Mostly because your cat is perfect in there.

This photo by Mike Smetzer presents a blend of natural and urban landscapes. Lush green trees are in the foreground with a hazy view of a river and city skyline in the distance.

The Portland, Maine, skyline as seen through the trees and bushes of Thomas Knight Park in South Portland.

#photography #Portland #Maine #SouthPortland #skyline #landscape

This color photo by Mike Smetzer looks across the mouth of the Saco River from the pier in Camp Ellis, Maine. On the other side are Hills Beach and the South Jetty, with the community of Biddeford Pool in the distance beyond.

This is a color photo of the mouth of the Saco River from the pier in Camp Ellis, Maine. A previous version was in black and white. The harbor was still a lonely scene when this shot was taken in April.

#photography #landscape #seascape #SouthernMaine #SacoRiver #Maine #CampEllis

This photo of Portland Harbor by Mike Smetzer was taken from Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine. The shot was taken in the late afternoon on a mostly cloudy day. It shows the park and its tiny lighthouse in the foreground and a busy Portland Harbor on the other side of the Fore River. A large cruise ship is docked at the Ocean Gateway, and an island ferry is approaching the Casco Bay terminal from the right.

An across-the-river view of Portland Harbor taken from Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #photo #PortlandHarbor #Portland #seascape #Maine

Luscious photo!

The top two are very good portraits. The bottom two, I think are out of the portrait range, but it doesn't matter as they are also very good shots.

This photo by Mike Smetzer is a seascape of Casco Bay with Bug Light on the far left and a bit of Portland Harbor further back across the Fore River. A deep moodiness is created by the dark blues of the water and the bottoms of the clouds on this mostly cloudy day.

A seascape of Casco Bay with Bug Light and Portland Harbor on the far left. The horizon is a line of land made up of islands and some distant shoreline. The photo was taken from Bug Light Park in South Portland, Maine.

#photography #photo #landscape #seascape #Maine #SouthernMaine #CascoBay

"A Kansas Anthem" is a humorous nonsense poem in ballad stanzas by Mike Smetzer. It describes an encounter between the narrator and a disgruntled stranger after a dust storm. The poem was first published in Midwest Quarterly.

This poem was written after a small dust storm in Lawrence, Kansas.

#poetry #writing #midwest #kansas #DustStorm #GreatPlains #LawrenceKansas