Thank you to all who entered the First Annual Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express Newspaper Poetry Contest! Your submissions were beautiful and enjoyed by myself and our guest judge, Dr. Amy Menville. We express our gratitude to Dr. Menville for her time and expertise! Congratulations to our First-Place Poem, “From This Day Forward”, By: David Woods! David will receive a free year subscription to the Express Newspaper. The Second-Place Poem is, “The Beach”, By: Frank Beatrice. Coming in as the Third-Place Poem is: “Sea Mews”, By: Laurie A. Raad Nikopoulos. Our Honorable Mention Poem is “New England Summers”, By: Aliza Nantais. We applaud our winners and all who entered for sharing your talent, creativity, and meaningful sentiments about the season that is a way of life in New England. We look forward to next year’s contest and may the rest of your summertime livin’ be easy!
First Place Poem:
From This Day Forward
By: David Woods
The one thing better, come what may,
Than waiting for this special day
Is dreaming of all the wonderful things
That life from this day forward brings
A pilgrim of your soul I’ll be;
I long the quiet depths to see.
Each dawn I will awake to know
Our love will fresher, firmer grow
Through the inner garden of your mind,
I’ll stroll among your thoughts to find,
That each toward the sun they face
Perchance there’s one for me someplace
The blossoms dance and want to play,
Your petals stretch to greet the day
You’ll bless our home with happiness made
From thoughts whose colors never fade
Then down the lane I’ll travel along
To a beach where moonbeams sing their song
If clouds they come, they’ll soon be passed;
Warm sun and puddles of joy will last.
Then on that shore I’ll hope to see
What in the distance seems like thee.
I wait so long to fee you near,
In joy we meet, my eyes they tear.
Together now, to have and to hold
With plenty of time to grow younger old
From winter to spring and summer to fall
My love I’ll try to give you all.
(This poem was written by David Woods to Betsy Wilber a month prior to our wedding day, August 12, 1972. By this coming August 12th, we will have been happily married 54 years.)
Second Place Poem:
The Beach
(Small Wonders)
By: Frank Beatrice
I see you running through the sand
with not a care in the world;
stopping to collect a sea shell,
then two, then three, then more,
(trying to hold all in your little arms)
dropping the first, replacing it with another.
You marvel at all you find,
a crab shell, a sand dollar, a coin,
treasures of all kinds.
You stop to survey the vastness,
then turn your attention to a new adventure.
You cautiously approach,
stepping into the cold mud,
watching it squish between your tiny toes.
The frigid water breaks over your little feet.
Shrieking with youthful laughter, you run back out,
flailing your little arms up and down,
trying desperately to shake off the cold shock;
then run back in again playing tag with the waves.
After several attempts, the ocean wins out.
You take a respite and reassess.
You run to me for reassurance and validation.
I dry your wet little body gently with your favorite towel
and warm your whole, purple, shivering being with a hug,
as you display your new found treasures with excitement
and a willingness to share.
Only after you are convinced that I am not abandoning you,
and you are fully secure, you leave your treasures in my trust
and run to do it all over again.
The freedom of youth, the excitement of innocence
laid bare for all to witness
and displayed with sheer happiness and wonder
in the vast openness without trepidation or apprehension.
Where did it all go as we grew?
(A summer day at the beach with my child)
Third Place Poem:
Sea Mews
By: Laurie A. Raad Nikopoulos
Sea Mews soaring high
Nature’s choreography
Above subtle waves.
Extended wings glide
An azure backdrop highlights
Flocks expressing flight.
Imagination
Freedom between land and sky
Guided by the wind.
One must not deny
Beautiful moments abound
Minds seeking nature.
Summer’s magical moments!
Honorable Mention Poem:
New England Summers
By: Aliza Nantais
Bogs, ponds, fires and the pups
and the friends and family in between.
For me New England’s summers are filled with these
Running and investigating cranberry bogs,
Accidently taking home snapping turtles from pounds,
Making extra money mowing lawns,
That’s a New England summer for me
Embracing the warm sun, reflecting in the mild nights
The smell of fire wood burning,
The sound of laughter and echoes of stories
The site of pups zooming around -stopping short to the smell of s’mores
That’s a New England summer for me
United and free is what a New England summer is for me
Days in the sun and water,
Nights filled with friends, family and neighbors stopping in and out
Sounds of fires crackling as marshmallows begin to golden and chocolate begins to melt
Sounds of dogs sniffing and sites of them looking longingly at you
That’s a New England summer for me