Tag Archives: North Shore poets

Come to the meeting

Meetings, Poetry, , , , ,

Join the North Shore Poets’ Forum meeting on Saturday, March 18, 11 a.m., in the Barnet Room of the Beverly Public Library for a happy St. Patrick’s Day (late) and a welcome to Spring (coming soon) gathering. I will be presiding, something I haven’t done in a few years because of taking a Saturday job. I’ve quit that. Many thanks to Jeanette Maes and Roberta Hung for calling you together periodically — until Covid scuttled all sorts of plans. We’ve been free of the constant Covid worry for a while now, so here’s to a great new year of poetry.

I will present a short program on Eavan Boland, 1944-2020, an Irish poet who taught at many universities both in Ireland and the United States. We will then take some time for gentle critiquing of our own poems.

Below is a poem by Boland that I hope you will enjoy. I look forward to seeing you Saturday.

Quarantine

Eavan Boland – 1944-2020

In the worst hour of the worst season
    of the worst year of a whole people
a man set out from the workhouse with his wife.
He was walking—they were both walking—north.

She was sick with famine fever and could not keep up.
     He lifted her and put her on his back.
He walked like that west and west and north.
Until at nightfall under freezing stars they arrived.

In the morning they were both found dead.
    Of cold. Of hunger. Of the toxins of a whole history.
But her feet were held against his breastbone.
The last heat of his flesh was his last gift to her.

Let no love poem ever come to this threshold.
     There is no place here for the inexact
praise of the easy graces and sensuality of the body.
There is only time for this merciless inventory:

Their death together in the winter of 1847.
      Also what they suffered. How they lived.
And what there is between a man and woman.
And in which darkness it can best be proved.

From New Collected Poems by Eavan Boland. Copyright © 2008 by Eavan Boland. Reprinted by permission of W.W. Norton. All rights reserved.

A New Year at the Poets’ Forum

general, Meetings, Poetry, , , ,

Happpy New Year! I have booked the Beverly Public Library for the Poets’ Forum meetings on the third Saturday of seven different months, as follows: 

March 18; April 15 (National Poetry Month); May 20; September 16; Oct. 21; Nov. 18; Dec. 16. The March and April meetings are in the Barnet Room; all others are in the Sohier Room. 

The library has allotted us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for our meetings. We will go back to our 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. time for the March meeting, since most of us are used to it. The library is allowing us to bring our inidivduals lunches, which is very nice since food is usually forbidden. We can discuss at the meeting whether we would rather meet from 10 to 12 or 12 to 2. We can also decide if we want a summer outing, which we’ve enjoyed in the past.

It has been a while since we met regularly. The Covid virus was a big culprit. And, someone getting a job on Saturdays (i.e., me, the former and now current Forum director), set things back a bit. Both Jeanette Maes, Mass State Poetry Society President, and Roberta Hung, her right-hand woman, did their best to add the Forum to their busy lives, but each sighed with relief when I quit my Saturday job and offered my services again.

We have in the past presented programs on different poets or poetric forms or periods. I will think of something for March 18th — perhaps an Irish poet. I’ll let you know closer to the date. Other members are encouraged to make presentions. We will also politely critique one another’s poems. Sharpen your pencils and start writing your fabulous poems. And, if they aren’t quite fabulous, we’ll help you get there!

Note, that the Mass State Poetry Society has regular meetings. Check them out at https://mastatepoetrysociety.tripod.com.

Now for some inspiration. You probably know that Pulizer Prize winner and US Poet Laureat Charles Simic died this month. He immigrated from Siberia as a teenager and taught at the University of New Hampshire for more than 30 years. But, I am bringing you a poem by David Slavitt, since it is about death and mourning. Also, it is set in Boston, on Arch Street, near the old Filenes. I was charmed. I hope you like it.

 

Summer Outing coming up

Meetings, , , ,

We are having a Summer Outing this year with a particular twist — to say goodbye to Diane Giardi, who is moving to New York to start a new chapter in her life. Because of her busy schedule, we are changing the date to the fourth Saturday, June 28. We’ll meet , at Captain Carlo’s in Gloucester, 27 Harbor Loop, at 11:30 a.m., when the restaurant opens. Bring some poetry!

I’ll post more information as the date nears. Please let me know if you can come, so that I can be sure to reserve a table for all of us.

 

Cheers!

Meeting on Saturday

Meetings, Poetry, ,

Please join us for the last official meeting of the year at the Beverly Public Library, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We are supposed to bring either our own or a favorite poet’s poems about place. If you bring your own, please bring copies to share for gentle critique.

We will also be discussing elections and schedule for next year, as well as a summer outing.

AlamoIn any case, here’s a picture of the Alamo, which is a place, but I didn’t write about it! You, too, have been on vacation or on  a business trip here or there.

When looking for an existing poem about the Alamo, here’s something I found that I think says a lot about place.

Taovayo-Wichita Burial Eulogy

We are children of the earth, and as we go on a journey it means that we are like children crawling upon our mother, and as we exist upon the earth we are kept alive by her breath, the wind, and at the end of our time we are put in the ground in the bosom of our mother.

Now you have been made to contain all things, to produce all things, and for us to travel over.  Also we have been told to take care of everything which has come to your bosom, and we have been told that in your body everything should be buried.  I now come to bury this man.

From G.A. Dorsey, Mythology of the Wichita, 1904

I hope this has inspired you to look for other examples of poetry about place or to write something. See you on Saturday!

 

 

Contest Winners and Reading — Coming Up

Meetings, Poetry, , , , ,

Just a quick note to say that the winners of the annual Naomi Cherkofsky national contest have been chosen, but the judge needs to get the names and contact info — always a secret — which the contest chair has to pull together. So, we’ll keep you posted.

Then, everyone should join us at the Beverly Public Library on Saturday, April 26, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a celebration of National Poetry Month, with readings of the winning poems followed by an open mic. Light refreshments will be available.

See you then!

Annual Poetry Reading date and time change!

Meetings, Poetry, , , , , , , ,

Life is full of changes. So, the North Shore Poets’ Forum has a little change to announce. The annual Poetry Reading in celebration of National Poetry Month that features readings by winners of the Naomi Cherkofsky contest followed by an Open Mic is from the third Saturday in April to the last one. That’s April 26, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Beverly Public Library.

I have been a sleepy, lazy, cold lady this winter and haven’t posted much. Still am. But, here’s a little poem by Billy Collins to give you — and me — hope. (Note: WordPress does not allow all poetic formatting! So, I have an ellipse to indicate stanza breaks.)

TODAY

By Billy Collins

If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
…
that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house
…
and unlatch the door to the canary’s cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb,
…
a day when the cool brick paths
and the garden bursting with peonies
…
seemed so etched in sunlight
that you felt like taking
…
a hammer to the glass paperweight
on the living room end table,
…
releasing the inhabitants
from their snow-covered cottage
…
so they could walk out,
holding hands and squinting
…
into this larger dome of blue and white,
well, today is just that kind of day.

Shall we reconsider the topic?

Meetings, Poetry, , , , ,

Of course by now you know that Seamus Heaney died yesterday. He was a wonderful poet. and since I left it that we should all bring poems by a favorite poet to our Sept. 21 meeting, how about if instead we do a tribute to Seamus Heaney? I will get copies of some of my favorite of his poems, and I would love it if others of you brought copies of his poems that you particularly like. I think we should all take turns reading the poems and discussing.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Cathryn, aka Cathy

Next meeting is Sept. 21

general, Meetings, Poetry, , , , , ,

The next meeting of the North Shore Poets’ Forum is Saturday, Sept. 21, 11 a.m., at the Beverly Public Library. We have to set up our agenda, so please come prepared to volunteer to prepare a program.

For the first meeting, too, I hope you will bring a poem or two by a different poet (not yourself) to read. Then we’d like to hear what you admire about this poet/poem.
New this year: If you bring a poem of your own that you want to share, please bring six or seven copies so that we can gently critique it. This is in the longstanding tradition of the poets’ forum that we all need feedback, that there is always more to learn, and that we humbly realize we need help to become better poets.

I look forward to seeing you next month.

Naomi Cherkofsky contest winners

general, Poetry, , , , , , , , ,

The results of the Naomi Cherkofsky Memorial Contest  are in, and we are very excited to share them with you. We do hope any of you who entered and are not on this list know that all of us have not been on some list or other! It doesn’t mean you are not terrific. Please know that we would love to have you join the winners to share your poetry during the North Shore Poets’ Forum’s annual celebration of National Poetry Month on Saturday, April 20, at the Beverly Public Library, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is always an entertaining time.

And now the list:

1st Prize   Carol Seitchik – “Tel Aviv: Meandering Back”

2nd Prize   Clemens Schoenebeck – “Resurrection”

3rd Prize   Sally Clark – “One Loose Screw”

Honorable Mentions:

1HM   C.H.Coleman – “A Mother’s Moment”

2HM   Clemens Schoneback – “Old Dog”

3HM    Ms. Phyllis Hodge – “Blizzard in the City”

4HM   Peter McDale – “Almost Spring”

5HM   Alan Swartz – “In the Dream there was a Card Game”

6HM   V. G. Bisaillon – “A Partly Blocked View”

7HM   Richard Samuel Davis – “Waiting for Deer at the Island Refuge”

We invite our winners to come to our celebration to read their poems. After they read, we have an Open Mic. Lots of people join in, and we all have a great time.  Please try to make it!

Naomi Cherkofsky Contest deadline coming up

general, Meetings, , , ,

The deadline for the annual Naomi Cherkofsky contest has been changed to March 15, to give this premier procrastinator (i.e., Cathryn Keefe O’Hare, AKA Cathy, AKA director of the North Shore Poets’ Forum) a little more time to get the news out about the contest.

Help, please!

(Please notice my use of line breaks here to add emphasis, something I learned from Melissa’s presentation on line breaks to the forum. See her earlier post.)

Tell your poet friends and neighbors and enemies. It’s cheap to enter, and it’s a lot of fun to attend our annual celebration of National Poetry Month with readings of the winning poems before an Open Mic and other great poems from those in the audience.

This year the celebration is on Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m. to 1 or so, in the Program Room of the Beverly Public Library.

Rules are spelled out under the “Contest” tab. In brief, any subject, any form, 40 line-length limit, poets 18 or older, no more than 5 entries per poet, $3 per entry. Send two copies, one signed with contact information, the other not (for judge), to Jeanette Maes, 64 Harrison Ave., Lynn, mA 02105, by March 15.

OK?

Now, as the Nike people say, Just Do It!