While I often write about the science-y side of things for this column, I wanted to take a different approach this Thursday, since it is Poem in Your Pocket Day, and give a nod to the inspiration that the coast provides for some truly wonderful writing.
I have recently enjoyed walking down Maine Street and reading the poems posted on the storefront windows, as part of the Downtown Brunswick Poetry Stroll, which include those by many Maine poets like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Robert Tristram Coffin among other familiar names like Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. Maine has an amazingly rich poetic heritage, much of it inspired by the natural world — and that includes its coast. We are fortunate to live in a place that has always and still has a fair amount of wildness to it, which serves as an inspiration for artists of all types. Poetry month has reminded me to look at the coast in a different way and to value it more broadly than just for its seafood, its tidepools and the opportunities it offers for both work and recreation.
I don’t have nearly enough room here to share all of my favorite sea-themed poems but wanted to call attention to a handful of lines from a few of them at least, with apologies for stealing only selected lines from each and for the lack of proper formatting in an effort to fit them all in here. You’ll just have to find the originals, all of which are worthy of reading. There is Longfellow’s “The Secret of the Sea,” where he notes the contemplative power of the sea by writing, “Ah! what pleasant visions haunt me / As I gaze upon the sea! / All the old romantic legends / All my dreams, come back to me.” And poet Louise Bogan, whose father was a Maine sea captain, wrote in her poem “Night” the sweet couple of lines, “where shell and weed / wait upon the salt wash of the sea.” Then there is the former Maine poet laureate Gibson Faye-LeBlanc, who recognized the elements of the sea and our connection to it in his poem “At Sea” by stating, “My mind, my boat / lacks the sails to fathom a world / without you, wind, brother, in it.”
Closer to home, Gary Lawless, local poet and owner of Gulf of Maine Books, wrote one of my favorite collections of poems, “Sardine Shards,” in honor of Maine’s once thriving sardine fishery and canneries. Gulf of Maine Books is one of the places, along with the Pejepscot Historical Society and the Curtis Memorial Library, where you can pick up a Poem in Your Pocket sticker and also a printed poem. This is all thanks to a local Brunswick teacher, Kathy Koerber, who started the local effort 12 years ago by dropping off stickers and poems at local businesses for people to participate. She was inspired by her first grade students and began the effort once she retired. This year’s event recognizes the connection to students through a collaboration between the Brunswick High School library and art department that pairs poetry with artwork created by BHS and People Plus students and local artist Charlotte Agell for display in the windows of many of the downtown businesses.
The Downtown Poetry Stroll features a wonderful collection of poems that many passersby will recognize and connect with — one of the aims of the annual celebration. The idea is to bring these poems to more people and to get people to share what’s in their pocket. Or you can take it further and create your own collection. A couple of years ago, one of my daughters made me a lovely journal with prompts to write about or draw, and I spent April of that year copying a poem every day into it and sharing it with my family. It has been a way to rediscover many favorite poets and also discover some new ones. Unsurprisingly, many of these are sea-themed, so it has also provided me with a reminder of the unquantifiable value of our Maine coast to provide subject matter for great art.
Susan Olcott is the director of operations at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.
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