Does nature inspire poetry for you as it does for this month's Cape Cod poetry winners?
Nature inspires this month's winning poets in different ways, different places and different times.
Bradford Chase went to Chile looking for a poem, but the inspiration did not come until the very end of his visit, in a restaurant that served "primitive" Chilean food.
Rob Martin found inspiration on the Cape in a body of water which, despite its icy grayness, evoked images of summers past and the promise of those to come.
Adam Sarlan paints a word picture of Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, urging people to come and experience nature's artistry for themselves.
Frank Smith's poem came from a memory sprung to life; you can almost feel the "Quiet Place" as Smith describes the physical sensation of being held just off the shore by winds.
We would love to get your submissions to the Cape Cod Times' monthly poetry contest, judged by a panel of professional poets. See the rules to enter below.
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Bradford Chase is a fish biologist living in his hometown, Harwich. Chase’s collection of poems, called “Codbones,” was published by Wrinkled Sea Press in Orleans last summer.
Inspiration for “Primitive”: "I traveled to Chile this fall and hoped to write a poem there. Nothing was coming up. At the end of the trip we had a wonderful experience eating at a place that served “primitive” Chilean food. That night I had a vivid dream set in yellow at a Cape Cod herring run. I woke up and wrote this poem before coffee.
Primitive
By Bradford Chase
The flow is blocked
A gift from the earth
Roots and yellowtail
Cooked with yellow wood
On clay and stone
The children step aside
“Let me see you smile
No, wider still”
Says the peering elder
“Then I will know”
The flow is released
Fish move to the exit
Most will survive
Swimming here before trust
To the ocean unimpeded
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Rob Martin, a resident of West Yarmouth, has a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island and more than 30 years of experience in numerous writing fields. He is enjoying his latest writing interest —poetry —because of the creativity and freedom it offers.
Inspiration: "Ghost Beach” is about contrast and promise: How walking on a beach in the bleakest throes of winter can evoke vivid memories of the same beach in summer, memories that warm the frigid air and hint of better days ahead.
Ghost Beach
By Rob Martin
Because moonshine flares so bright tonight,
I’m on a shore lit otherworldly white.
Osprey nests and lifeguard chairs sit empty flecked with snow,
like anchors now forsaken, that appear when the tide is low.
I hear the seesaw roar of frigid surf run aground;
eyes tear, face burns cold, on a beach by Nantucket Sound.
Then − echoes in the sand: an umbrella sprouts free,
shrieks, laughter, life, returning from the sea.
Music wafts in, broken by the breeze,
as swimmers edge into water lapping at their knees.
On a lonely winter night, conjured bygones remind:
Renewal – the tilt toward the sun − is never far behind.
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Adam Sarlan is a student at Elms College in Chicopee, where he is majoring in secondary education and English. “Even though I do not live on the Cape year round, I consider Cape Cod to be my second home. My family visits here every summer. I always look forward to sunny beach days and daily ice cream trips to Sundae School.”
Inspiration: I wrote this poem after spending a day at the Heritage Museums and Gardens in Sandwich. My goal is that the reader is inspired to go out and see the beauty of nature after reading this poem.
A Walk Through Mother Nature’s Garden
By Adam Sarlan
Walking into a world of green,
Your sense of imagination and wonder
Comes alive. Plants, flowers,
Bees, and trees reside here,
Welcoming you for a visit.
The pink rhododendrons that lie along the gravel path
Point you in the direction of
The beautiful waterfall that
Sprays your body, cooling you off
On this hot summer day.
The large dragonflies land on the deep green lily pads,
Taking a rest. After a couple of minutes, they take off,
Leading you to the yellow and black sunflowers,
Light pink peonies, and purple lavender.
Pick a crabapple from the tree and look at the
White dogwood, red flowering quince, and light green herbs
That are planted by the old windmill.
Look at the blue, pink, and purple hydrangeas.
Take a picture with your face muddled in them,
Then go and race your siblings through
The labyrinth. The winner
Gets to sit in the big tree
That overlooks the maze.
Climb the treehouse, play on the lawn,
Listen to the high-pitched call
Of the chickadee, or
Look out at the pond.
Visit the beehive and see the buzzing up close.
Ride the carousel. Hear the happy screams
Of children and see the
Loving smiles of adults.
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Frank Smith says he is “a retired business executive and consultant, as well as a blessed husband, father and grandfather living in Wakefield.” He enjoys spending time exploring and fishing on Cape Cod with his extended family who own a cottage in North Eastham. He also enjoys music, playing guitar, song-writing and recording. Smith studied poetry as an undergraduate at Lowell Tech under poet Bill Aiken of Truro.
Inspiration: My wife's family built a cottage in North Eastham back in the 1950s and I have been fishing the kettle ponds for many years. In springtime, it’s a challenge to troll with a canoe or kayak against the prevailing winds. One early winter morning, as I sipped my coffee in the quiet of my dining room, this poem came to me.
Quiet Place
By Frank Smith
in the stillness of a windbreak
on the far end of a pond
there is a space
and though the surface chops
just a few yards beyond
it is a quiet place
where thoughts can collect
where the water becomes crystal clear
and the bottom feels closer
and images reflect
where the rhythm of the lapping shore
slows the pace.
in the stillness near the end
there is a space
a quiet place
where thoughts collect
and images reflect.
How to enter the Cape Cod Times Poetry Contest
Cape Cod Times monthly poetry contest needs your poems to stay vital. We thank our volunteer judges and coordinator.
Here’s how to send us your work:
Submit one poem single-spaced, of 35 lines or fewer per month.
Poems cannot be previously published in print or online.
Deadline for the next submission is Feb. 1, 2024.
Submit by email to cctpoetry12@gmail.com.
Poems should be free of hate speech and expletives (profanity, vulgarity, obscenity).
In the body of the e-mail, send your contact information: name, address, phone number and title of poem; then, in a Word Doc attachment, include poem without your name or any other personal info, so that the poem can be judged anonymously.
Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her or X, formerly Twitter: @dailyrecipeCCT
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Times Poetry contest: Submit a winning poem to be published
