CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

A day spent beachcombing with the ocean’s surf a few yards away,  the horizon in the distance and rocks, pools, sea creatures and driftwood at our feet is always a day well spent. And then occasionally to find a treasure – sea glass! to hold the glass in the hand . . .

I started writing poetry when I was nine years old.  My mother had friends who were poets, my aunts wrote poetry, and I had wonderful teachers in school who not only wrote poetry but promoted poetry. Also, I had friends who enjoyed “playing with words.” Writing poetry seemed natural.

Many of my themes deal with nature; however, I also have written about issues concerning the range of human experience, including joy, love, and desperation.

With the anticipation  and excitement of the June fishing openings over and the crew settled into the repetitive routines of setting the net and bringing the fish aboard the boat, the crew smiles when the skipper says, “Last set, make a town pile, bring the skiff aboard, and let’s head for town.   

It’s August now and the pinks are running on the West Coast.  The Glenda Faye makes a move from the north to Clarence Straits, to the coasts of Dall Island and  Noyes Island.  A successful  or mediocre season hangs in the balance of a few weeks on the coast.  Fishing in constant swells and steep seas replaces the comfort and safety of fishing inside waters. Chances are taken . . . 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem, I AM WAITING, is the inspiration for  Cathy’s  poem, I AM LOOKING. Ferlinghetti, in his notes, wrote, ” This poem was conceived specifically for jazz accompaniment and as such should be considered as a spontaneously spoken “oral message” rather than as a poem for the printed page.”  If you or I read or speak I AM LOOKING, in that way, the poem is subject to change. How might you or I read this poem and then write our own poem? 

Tim  

The current news is filled with opposed and irreconcilable opinions of the world as we perceive it in our lives. In A POEM FOR TWO REALITIES , Cathy considers two different views of the world. If we read it standing up, we are led to one conclusion.  If we, however, stand on our heads, and read

We are delighted to have poet, Patricia Ann Hammill, contribute two more poems to the NESTER. Patricia writes ,”I wrote “Early Snow” several years ago and “Late Snow” this year . With the weather this spring, I thought it was appropriate.” The poems speak simply and eloquently of many of our feelings during the recent seasons.

After staying on the beach for a few summers, in 1984 I returned again to the fishing life that I found easy to leave in the fall and impossible to resist in the spring. ANOTHER SEASON celebrates a season’s “opening day” that always holds possibilities in equal measure for success and for disappointment. Of course, in my imagined first day, wee have success!

Cathy Ross’s Poem, “This Day”, treats a common subject in an uncommon way. We often say to each other idioms like “Seize the Day” or “Live One Day at a Time”. Cathy’s poem reflects on what would we want to say about that “special day” if we lived that way.

Dave Olson’s “A Meditation For Earth Day” expresses his insights into the significance of Earth Day from its beginnings and continuing into the current times. You are invited to appreciate what he writes together with the accompanying photographs.