Cape Cod Poetry: Farewell to a queen and a season

From the passing of a queen to the antics of nature, the winning poets in this month's Cape Cod Poetry contest explore the world. Here is their work for you to enjoy, along with our invitation to submit your own work. See the rules below.

Stewart Pattison lives in Chatham.

Poem inspiration: Queen Elizabeth II began her reign the year before I was born. She has been a presence throughout all the changes of seven decades of my life. Her passing moved me deeply, not so much because she was queen; but because of the historic continuity she represented to me and to millions of others.

Elizabeth II 

By Stewart Pattison

A queen is dead.

More than a queen, a bridge

Over which history has passed

From a world long gone to a time of

Deconstructing story as disturbing

As it is hopeful.

May her legacy be a span,

But also an aqueduct; continuous

With the hidden order of the steadying

Presence of Original Goodness.

Not the person. The Presence.

***

Walter Ralston is the author of "Wander into Wonder." Quincy raised, he lives in Hyannis.

Inspiration: This poem arose after viewing the funeral cortege of Queen Elizabeth II on television in September. I found the experience, the symbolism, the sense of continuity and unity, the gently rocking motion side to side of those who marched, quite emotional for me. This poem is what flowed from the tip of my pen.

MOURNING TODAY 

By Walter Ralston

Boom

Boom

Boom

Achingly slow

Muffled

Boom, Boom, Boom

From the Hall at Westminster

to St. George’s chapel, Windsor

Trudging, rocking in unison

Boom, Boom, Boom

Cannon, Big Ben, and bridled horses,

shoe leather, wheels of gun

carriage and hearse

Turn after turn after turn

Step follows step follows step

A million watching in person

A billion viewing on screen

Ever, relentless, throbbing

Boom, Boom, Boom

Somewhere in this:

a riderless pony,

untended Corgis,

a lone piper.

A monarch mourns

and is mourned

as might we

Boom, Boom, Boom

***

Kathleen Casey from East Falmouth is a member of The Steeple Street Poets and The Mill Pond Poets.

Inspiration: Living on the Childs River, I am tuned into wildlife and take delight in hearing the soft plop of rising fish, the wing beats of swans headed upriver, the morning bird chorus, and the calls of owls after dark. The onset of fall parallels the autumn of my life. The natural environment inspires me to be both aware of and prepared for winter’s challenges.

AUTUMN MEMORY 

By Kathleen Casey

Old trees in the forest know it

fallen branches lay

on soil thick with leaves

once spring green

now crumpled brown.

Whispers are heard

when creatures set forth,

or when breezes blow

at any moment

down the wooded hillside.

A round-eared vole,

its mouth full of golden grass,

hurries on tiny feet

to a burrow disguised somewhat

with matted debris,

while perched far above

in shadows of gnarled oaks,

a very still barred owl

watches and waits

for twilight.

***

Orleans is home for Ginia Pati; her poetry has been represented by WCAI, WOMR, chapbooks/anthologies, and the Cultural Center of Cape Cod.

Inspiration: Strife, turmoil and hope have forged a gestation period touching every corner of the globe with heartbreaking fear. It has also created an awakening passion for sharing kindness, compassion and equanimity. Despite the searing last years, we eagerly commit this new hope into manifestation; a threshold has been crossed to now welcome a new light of renewal.

Welcoming You 

By Ginia Pati

Newborn cradled by a galaxy of prayers bringing

you to earth    ordained by sacred time      the tiny

whorls on your temples     a North star compass

to guide your journey upon an earth in need.

Hard to believe such fierce stillness now begins

a hundred-year destiny     offering abundant light

from the milky way       to weave into the lives

you’ll meet along the path.

Unfathomable beauty      will unfold gentle

strength to your touch     your heart far reaching

though now   the miniscule curl of your fingers only touch

the whorl    as if to confirm the promise you’ve awakened.

Folds of apricot ears hold light   spring bud of an aspen leaf

responding to breeze or scattered showers      listening for

passing light or shadows of grand mountains ever changing

for the power of Gaia to prepare your journey.

But for now     dear newborn     gather the loving wisdom

of ancestors     here too for the joy of your arrival

together we embrace you         offering to protect

this human home your spirit has chosen.

***

Paula Trespas, a native Cape Codder, has been writing poetry for 25 years.

Inspiration: When I saw the images from the James Webb Telescope, I was amazed at the beauty, enormity and mystery of a part of the universe we didn’t know existed.

Thank You, Webb Telescope 

By Paula Trespas

for reminding us

how insignificant

we are, how vast

the cosmos and beautiful.

Thank you too for changing

what was once

the unknown of darkness

into the unknown of light

profound in its implications

of the futility of rosaries.

The firmament is alive

with murmurations

of celestial dust

stars that dwarf the sun

pinwheels in nebula clouds

spinning

elegant swoops and swirls

of star birth.

Your oculus eye navigates

a flotilla of galaxies

drenched in light

big as a grain of sand

beaming back to Earth

from billions of years ago

makes us wonder all the more

if we are alone, reminds us we are but

a speck of dust on a tiny blue planet.

And there in the terrible void floats

a telescope worked by the ingenuity of man and woman

bathed in the poetry of the universe.

***

Ellen Klenert lives in Mashpee and is the author of "The Divine Intruder," published in 2011.

Inspiration: The poem is a result of my love affair with nature and passion for writing. Growing old has allowed me the joy of shedding the superfluous and redefining simplicity in every day miracles that present themselves before me. Two hummingbirds graced my life this summer. They became my daily friends at a time of both personal loss and blessings, helping me renew hope and zest for life.

Hummingbird 

By Ellen Klenert

It’s time to say good-bye, isn’t it?

I feel it in the air

You’re draining each tubular flower

With extra special care

It’s time to end the season

The petals are getting dull

The bright red firecrackers

Are hanging to a lull

It’s time to leave the sweetness

Another year behind

And be prepared to take your flight

A warmer place to find

It’s time to be on your way

Yet, you’ll be greatly missed

Blessings flow one by one

For every flower you’ve kissed

Good-byes are never easy

Their presence stays alive

For somewhere in the distance

A heartbeat will survive.

***

Chuck Madansky lives in Brewster. He’s the author of "Some Days the Spoons Talk Back."

Inspiration: Fall is such a poignant season. It brings a spareness, a reduction to essentials that comes both as loss and relief. We look to our survival, our mortality, our ancestors. When I wrote this poem, I was feeling both an acceptance of my own reduction, and a longing for things to go well for the others in my extended family.

Fall

By Chuck Madansky

Fall,

and I’m not sad

the tourists are leaving;

katydids, snow crickets

fill the absent summer

warmth without words

or bitter news. Each day

more scarlet haunts the tupelo

more layers hush the dead-

needled forest floor.

I welcome my undoing.

I pray my family heals.

How to submit your poem

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 Nov. 1, 2022. 

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 name or any other personal info, so that the poem can be judged anonymously.

Poets not previously published in the Cape Cod Times are welcome to submit a new poem each month; those poets previously published in the Times, three months after publication.

Poets will be notified only if their poem is accepted.

Poems will be selected by a panel of readers on the Cape and Islands who are published poets and editors.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod poets say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II, celebrate nature