Poets Corner: Chilmark School Art Exhibit

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Chilmark School Art Exhibit

Luminous birds, lion-hearted lighthouses

and open-faced portraits, the one I kept

coming back to looked like an otter.

My friend said “seal” but switched to “owl!”

I had to agree; the feathers. “The kind

of thing they’ll teach out of them,” he said,

and he may be right—but, someone helped them

make the paintings, hang them. So, come to the show

of artists at the start of their careers,

however brief. And come for the owl.

I hope it is a self-portrait, because

even though it looks picked on, I can tell

it’s a survivor. That’s why I want it.

Donald Nitchie

Donald Nitchie lives in Chilmark. His poetry chapbook “Driving Lessons” was published in 2008 from Pudding House.