Cape Cod Poetry: Nature inspires once again, a common trait of the peninsula

The whisper of nature evokes different feelings in all of us. Some find comfort, while others find humor. Everyone will be faced with grief or loss. Have you ever found yourself in anguish or distress? Maybe you took a walk or looked out a window. A cardinal has just crossed your path, or you see a blue jay out of the corner of your eye, and suddenly you feel a little better. Some of these poems bring you to a place that is deeper than the eye can see. Others will evoke laughter and that is part of the beauty of poetry.

Nature is a thread running through much of the poetry in this month's five winning entries in Cape Cod Poetry.

Jeanne Sullivan lives in Brewster. She is an artist and the author of many unpublished poems.

Inspiration: This poem combines some of my favorite ways of enjoying nature- sunny days outside, warm breezes, encounters with animals, surprises and laughter. It is a true story.

Close Encounter in the Shower

By Jeanne Sullivan

Bent over pose

Washing my toes

In the outdoor shower

From ‘neath the wall

Stripy fur ball

A scurrying chipmunk

Locked nose to nose

Each of us froze

In instant exposure

I gave a shout

‘Munk spun about

And streaked from the shower

I laughed out loud

Happily wowed

By the joy of nature

***

Jim Fulton lives in Chatham and is the author of three poetry books, the most recent of which is entitled "I Get My Best Ideas By Not Thinking."

Inspiration: I was inspired to write this poem by reading quotes from Gandhi, who stood together with others and never lost faith in his fight for civil rights

Standing Together

By James Fulton

What we encounter is never all sound:

No one is empty of vice;

Human perfection is fantasy bound ―

Life is a roll of the dice.

When we proceed to find fault in each other,

Doing so governs the hour.

When we rely on our sisters and brothers,

That is the secret to power.

Surely we know that just standing alone

Fails to provide for our needs.

All by ourselves we can never atone ―

Standing together succeeds.

***

Martha Holland Mason is from Centerville and now lives in Round Hill, Virginia and vacations in Chatham. She is the author of "Beach Glass."

Inspiration: Cape Cod is where  some of my darkest days were spent but also where I find deep healing. In December of 2011, while reconnecting with a friend, I admired her beach glass collection. On my last day there I walked alone on the beach in search of my own beach glass and the poem was born from that and from reflecting on my own journey.

Beach Glass

By Martha Mason

pieces of a drunken night

shattered glass shattered life

never to be whole again

sharpened by the brokenness

tossed about in sand and sea

a fraction of what could be

sharpness dulls over time

edges soften through the grind

of sand and salt and the constant rub

that wears the edges of a life

til landing on the shore

a piece transformed from before

time has smoothed the brokenness

separated from the rest

now a treasure to caress

lonely fingers find a store of

beach glass on the shore

***

Robert Paluzzi is a resident of Cedarville who enjoys making art, lake sailing, the changing of seasons and ocean walks any time of year.

Inspiration: This poem about our Cape Cod springtime hesitance came about after a walk in Boston's public garden in early May. I noticed many spring trees blooming at a time when my yard trees were still bare. We wait for the spring Boston and other towns get to see earlier.

How To Do Spring

By Robert J. Paluzzi

On Cape Cod, it's to wait,

Wait, for spring,

To do, its springy thing,

Whilst we gather the outside chairs,

And dust off the inside blinds,

As a fine pine tree pollen,

Yellow coats our cars,

Let's rake up last year's-tired leaves,

Maybe burn them in back yard heaves,

But watch right out for sizzling summer,

As those delicate buds will bloom & pop fast,

Faster than beach stickers,

And sunbaked beach plums,

would presume to last.

***

Caroline Guilbert lives in South Dennis and is an avid pickleball player/coach with a love for the written word.

Inspiration:  This poem had been living in my mind the past two years and as my mother’s anniversary approached this year I realized that it was time to give it life. That spring I had been marveling at nature, delighting in watching the mother animals and birds with their offspring during my walks. I had never experienced anything like that before that time, and I have not experienced it since. In a sense, I was one with nature and it with me.

The Honor Guard

By Caroline Guilbert

I walk the familiar loop

Sun shining white in the early morning sky

The world around me alive with the sights, sounds, smells of late spring.

On this June morning

I can’t sleep, haven’t been able to sleep

I feel everything and feel nothing

I see everything and see nothing

I can’t cry

Until

I pass a small rabbit, he stands at attention

Watching as I go by

There is a squirrel doing the same

This happens again and again on this short walk

The robin

The cardinal

The blue jay

All standing along the edge of the path as I walk by

And then I realize why they are there

They sense my sorrow

My grief

That on this glorious June day

My heart is broken

My mother died before the sun rose

In some innate way nature has come to comfort me.

How to submit a poem to the Cape Cod Times

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 submission is July 1, 2023.

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.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod Poetry: Rabbits, squirrels, birds cast region in poetic light