Poet’s Corner
A Poem inside Our Long-Distance Relationship
From Martha’s Vineyard
By James Miller
When I think of this lovely earth
and how a pen has given birth
to the bright language of the stars,
I know then that you are not...
Poet’s Corner
Veterans Day Commemoration
By Linda Zeltzer
The commemoration I speak of
is life and war as well
our men and women
who fight the wars
return or not
from hell.
Their sacrifice of life
or limb or sight or sound as well
our men...
Poet’s Corner
Undone Summer
By John Ortman
Before all this the beaching.
Warm and water chill thrilled my skin barely
Touching reaching toes.
Barbecued beef smoke choking burgers lusting after
Salty gusts of laughter.
Kids on bikes.
A passing seasonal shift warning leaves cluttered...
Poet’s Corner
Autumn
By Ellen Martin Story
Woodland deep oak and northern pines,
their gentle swirls of needles and leaves
whisper to suffering fools of late summer
pummeled and shivering from battered sea —
Come hither for peace in this autumnal grove,
feel...
Poet’s Corner
Autumn
By Linda Vancour
Autumn visits us here today
With all the leaves in disarray
Green, Brown and Orange there
Scattering acorns In the air
Swishing thru the pile of leaves
Getting them stuck on our sleeves
Such fun this time of...
Poet’s Corner
Sudden Love in Old Age
Anonymous
Sudden love in old age,
As sweet and warm
As toast and tea.
As unexpected as a day without pain.
What courage it takes
Knowing all that we know,
To fall in love again.
Anonymous lives year-round...
Poet’s Corner
My Justice
For Ruth Bader Ginsburg and us
By Fan Ogilvie
She was normal. Hardly noticeable
Or noticed. She sat like a pilgrim on a court
Writing most of her years, serving that court
In dissent. She made history and...
Poet’s Corner
The Ferris Wheel
Ferris wheel at dusk
the stomach turning Shoot the Shoot with screams
no fair, no ferris wheel
hot dogs, funnel cakes, shoo fly pie,
lemonade, cotton candy, soft ice cream
goodbye sand in the car hatch
goodbye elementary...
Poet’s Corner
..before compassion..
By Michael Oliveira
I knew my father's knuckles
better than his palms..
now, he gasps,
toothless, quivering;
hollow cheek flesh
veins and bones;
furtive breaths....
I need him stronger;
equipped to handle
the hell I owe him..
stinging slaps and
threatening belt,
brass buckled..
sweat sheened
fear..
I still...
Poet’s Corner
Fair Thee Well
By Christine G. Burke
No fair, no ferris wheel this year! Remember
the stomach turning shoot-the-shoot with the screaming children
hot dogs, funnel cakes, shoo fly pie, lemonade, cotton candy, soft ice cream,
Now the fair...
Poet’s Corner
The gardens are lush
The seas are warm and wavy
Our hearts are open
–Charles Silberstein, M.D.
Masks, masks everywhere
O my breath I cannot catch
Is this our new life?
–Jean Whitehead
Poets with an Island connection are welcome to submit...
Poet’s Corner
I am
By Ellie Bates
I am the bright orange butterfly weed
I survive with the poison ivy in sandy soil
I am a place of rest and nourishment
for the monarch’s long journey
I am brown spikes of wheat...
Poet’s Corner
Annette Sandrock is a member of Cleaveland House poets, and has a published book of poetry titled “Labyrinth” for sale at Bunch of Grapes, Edgartown Books, and two bookstores in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal,...
Poet’s Corner
Chocolate
By Laura D. Roosevelt
Dark, sweet chocolate — damned confection!
Always, you’re my cursed selection.
As for pears, or grapes, or melon:
I don’t want what they are sellin’.
Cocoa, you beckon me, compellin’
Me in the fattening direction.
On Blubber’s...
Poet’s Corner
Jetty
By Lucas Thors
Jagged boulders jutting out
endlessly into the opaque torrent
a red bell sings at the end, anticipating icy seaspray.
Waves dash upon the rocks
freely through cracks and crevices
a tern cries a mournful timbre, welcoming the...
Poet’s Corner
What am I
By Valerie Sonnenthal
I am the sun on the water's surface
a thin layer of warmth fading with day
a first memory growing in a warm liquid world
I am sky holding changing colors
a palette of...
Poet’s Corner
New Skills
By Clark Myers
we wash groceries
and bags with disinfectant
the bottoms of shoes
and maintain six feet
distant in a kitchen
only five feet wide
we’ve learned to be
OK with endless screen time
kids love us the more —
tortillas from...
Poet’s Corner: Haikus from coronavirus pandemic time
I miss you and you
And you and you and you and
You, in quarantine
–Theresa Holmes
Ticket in the sand
Symphony, Covid canceled
Just a lost bookmark
–Wendy Palmer
Lucy Vincent Beach
Rules for social distancing
And the cliff fell down
–Daniel Schlozman
Lucy Vincent...
Poet’s Corner: Haikus from coronavirus pandemic time
When a bud opens
Is it truly in flower
If no one is there?
–David Forbes
*
Gilligan's Island
Isolated family
Save me professor
–Theresa Holmes
*
empty main street in
Falmouth only things missing
are the tumbleweeds
–Michael Francis Oliviera
*
The Big Wave
I paddled out far,
I am...
Poet’s Corner
I Am A …
By Ivy Marcella
(June 29, 1985 – June 21, 2005)
I am a soul rebel, a wave
crashing, gliding across
my imagination. I am in
the dark alone, nervous of
the dark, but going off to
sleep. I...