APRIL IS POETRY MONTH - 2021
Here are two additional poems included in the Poultney Poetry Walk. These poems are featured in the storefronts on Main Street in celebration of National Poetry Month!
EARLY MORNING LIGHT The tape recorder floated on your pillow, a buoy in an ocean of hospice Spinning out Robert Frost, reciting his best of, and your favorite, “The Road Not Taken” Years earlier, you had pointed out the green-and-gold marker to your son Honoring Robert Frost that you had written, as you had other markers Stopping the car on snowy evenings to read the script that you oh-so-carefully crafted Never using a hyphen at the end of a line, even when the line went begging But you just turned your buggy of words around How proud I was of you then, Dad, and how proud your son is of you now Swaddled in bed clothes, like in your first photograph Ninety years ago, as you brought your raft about To take on the headwinds far from the easy cove of coma And out into the open sea of your brain tumor All hands-on deck, but only these two from your far-flung past Your wife of sixty-five years, your son twenty less than But both pulling for you these last thirty days Remaining vigilant by your moored craft “How much longer?” I asked the nurse Standing in the shade of the mainsail, she placed her hands On the fallen warrior’s yellowing feet: “I would spend the night,” she intoned Her words filling up the silence in the late afternoon sun of the hospice room “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Burnham Holmes Poultney, VT As Winter Wanes… Stunning whiteness blankets the land. Little bird prints scamper On a fluff topped crust Where, outside my door A cup of seed I thrust The birds puffed up, round balls with beaks A sign on this mid February day The temperature has peaked, is dropping- But not for long, or should I say, Don’t be forlorn? Spring is coming round the bend of the moon It will be here soon And so our gardens will adorn The forgotten snow With blossoms having supped the melt, Offering colorful jewels In the season of renewal. Ruth Hamilton Poultney, VT 
Today we feature two more local poets. April is the month to celebrate poetry and we have again organized a Poultney Poetry Walk in the storefront windows downtown. We hope you enjoy getting out on these lovely spring days and finding the poems posted along on Main Street.
Self-Care Some days it feels like a foreign language I'm asked to practice, with new words for happiness, work, and love. I'm still learning how to say: a cup of tea for no reason, what to call the extra honey I drizzle in, how to label the relentless urge to do more and more as useless. And how to translate the heart's pounding message when it comes: enough, enough. This morning, I search for words to capture the glimmering sun as it lifts above the mountains, clouds already closing in as fat droplets of rain darken the deck. I'm learning to call this stillness self-care too, just standing here, as goldfinches scatter up from around the feeder like broken pieces of bright yellow stained-glass, reassembling in the sheltering arms of a maple. James Crews Shaftsbury, VT Orion's Belt Orion’s Belt holds us The three sisters We sister three Love life Love love Love us sisters three Bonded by the stars Bonded by our light We sisters three Give life Give love Give strength together I Alnitak She Alnilam She Mintaka We look to the Night's sky Visible in early hours Through the Northern Winter And again by the Southern Summer Alnitak An I am first Joining our strength and love Protecting our history Alnilam my little sister Most luminous as the sun Her beauty known to all Massive across the sky's center Little Mintaka Completes our celestial history She embraces the light and continues our story Portent of our good fortune We sisters three shine together Krista Rupe, Poultney 
Here are two more wonderful poems that are part of our Poultney Poetry Walk. We are celebrating poetry throughout the month of April.
"The Good Cat" I watched the cat torment A mouse under paw An enjoyable treat For his tooth and his claw How had the mouse sinned That God killed it so? I pondered on this 'Til the good sun sank low “My Journey" The snow came down In the deepening gloom The mountain kept watch Staring down at the doomed When the sun returns I will travel on When the sun returns I will wander long A gift to the damned Is that journey Chris Edwards Putnam Station, NY 
April is the month to celebrate poetry. Again this year, SVA has created a Poultney Poetry Walk. As you walk through town you can spot the amazing poems from our community in the local storefront windows.
Here is one of the poems submitted. Enjoy! The Path of Poetry My shadow tells me there is light, and so all morning, I follow it. Finally, a high-noon moment of clarity, truth, always here right under my feet. But truth cannot save me. Confusion, like my shadow, has a mind of its own and soon returns. No rest, it seems eager to reach out, to engage darkness. And so it goes with writing a poem. You lay out a path of broken lines and follow them down the page, trying to say the unsayable. Just when you think you've got it, you realize another line, a next word even, will obscure all meaning. Still, you cannot help yourself. In time, you arrive back where you began, only to discover that while you were gone nothing changed, yet everything is different. The end is always a good place to begin again. David Mook Poultney, VT EKPHRASTIC POETRY READINGS An introduction to the Ekphrastic Poetry event at Stone Valley Arts, by David Mook, and Poems by BURNHAM HOLMES and DAVID MOOK in response to
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Click on the image above to watch a video in which Erika Schmidt shows a series of monotypes she made in response to the pandemic during March and April 2020.
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Emily Mulder, Pandemic People, spray paint on slate
"I think was trying to portray a universal openness and helplessness that I feel from all of the kids on my children's Google classrooms"
As a glimpse into how Emily works on her art, we show two versions of each portrait. The first working piece (on the left) and then after Emily worked more on each (on the right). "As is always hard, I was not sure if they were "done" and played with more repetition and reflection between the pieces, as well as clarifying them.'
If you have created art in response to the pandemic and would like to share it here, please contact us at StoneValleyArtsCenter@gmail.com.
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Tara Verheide in response to Covid-19
Thank you to the poets for sending your poems for our annual Poultney Poetry Downtown. We are happy to say they are now on display on Main Street in Poultney.
Most of the poems are displayed at 188 Main Street in the windows of the Journal Press Building. A few are in the window at Williams True Value Hardware and a couple more are at Hermit Hill Books. Thanks to Bob Mitnik, Bob Williams and Patty McWilliams for placing this wonderful collection of poems in their storefront windows!
Visit the village of Poultney, take a stroll on Main Street, and enjoy reading the poems. Be sure to practice social distancing should a large crowd amass reading poetry at any one location. Be safe, allow space, and wait your turn. Poems will be on display the whole month of April and into early May. We will also contine to share poems here on our blog.
We invite the artists among us to respond to any of the poems with your own art: painting, drawing, sculpture, collage... any medium. Share your art with us by emailing us at stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com
Once the virus is behind us we can safely gather at SVA at Fox Hill for a live poetry reading and exhibit of the corresponding works of art. Meanwhile, stay safe, read poems, write poems, share poems, make art, be kind, and be well!
"Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry." - Mary Oliver
Many thanks to the followinfg poets for their work and participation in this year's Poultney Poetry Downtown! We celebrate your voices and creativity!
Poultney Poetry Downtown 2020
"Spring Inventory" Pamela Ahlen
"Art That Time Sculpts" Pamela Ahlen
"On Hatred" B Amore
"The Days are Lost, Counting" B Amore
"Great Expectations" Marcia Angermann
"Early Morning Timbrels" Peggy Brightman
" From the Thicket" Peggy Brightman
"Red, White, and Blue?" Toby Bush
" Sugar Shack Squirrel" Toby Bush
"ALONG THE DOUBLE YELLOW" Vivina Ciolli
" WALK IN EARLY MORNING YARD" Vivina Ciolli
"Shameless Hymn" James Crews
"Free Day" James Crews
"Beckoning to Spring" Bob Eberth
"Dreamtime" Bob Eberth
"Dawn" Debby Franzoni
"His Silence" Debby Franzoni
"Parity" Alice Wolf Gilborn
"Dead of Night Dances Differently" Ruth Hamilton
"A View From The Bridge" Ruth Hamilton
"IN LOCO COLLEGIUM" Burnham Holmes
"POETRY MONTH OR THE CRUELEST MONTH—APRIL" Burnham Holmes
"Consequences" Wilma Ann Johnson
"Breaking Forth" Wilma Ann Johnson
"Princess Grace of Lake Sunapee" Luke Krueger
"Autumnal Burlesque" Luke Krueger
"Sarah's Moon" David Mook
"The Path of Poetry" David Mook
"Journey’s End" David Quesnel
"Hardscrabble Rural, a Poem" David Quesnel
"HIDDEN TREASURE" David Rynick
“D O W N sizing” Eileen Strickland-Holtham
“Childhood 1960’s” Eileen Strickland-Holtham
"The Turtle" Joyce Thomas
" Nocturne" Joyce Thomas
Most of the poems are displayed at 188 Main Street in the windows of the Journal Press Building. A few are in the window at Williams True Value Hardware and a couple more are at Hermit Hill Books. Thanks to Bob Mitnik, Bob Williams and Patty McWilliams for placing this wonderful collection of poems in their storefront windows!
Visit the village of Poultney, take a stroll on Main Street, and enjoy reading the poems. Be sure to practice social distancing should a large crowd amass reading poetry at any one location. Be safe, allow space, and wait your turn. Poems will be on display the whole month of April and into early May. We will also contine to share poems here on our blog.
We invite the artists among us to respond to any of the poems with your own art: painting, drawing, sculpture, collage... any medium. Share your art with us by emailing us at stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com
Once the virus is behind us we can safely gather at SVA at Fox Hill for a live poetry reading and exhibit of the corresponding works of art. Meanwhile, stay safe, read poems, write poems, share poems, make art, be kind, and be well!
"Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry." - Mary Oliver
Many thanks to the followinfg poets for their work and participation in this year's Poultney Poetry Downtown! We celebrate your voices and creativity!
Poultney Poetry Downtown 2020
"Spring Inventory" Pamela Ahlen
"Art That Time Sculpts" Pamela Ahlen
"On Hatred" B Amore
"The Days are Lost, Counting" B Amore
"Great Expectations" Marcia Angermann
"Early Morning Timbrels" Peggy Brightman
" From the Thicket" Peggy Brightman
"Red, White, and Blue?" Toby Bush
" Sugar Shack Squirrel" Toby Bush
"ALONG THE DOUBLE YELLOW" Vivina Ciolli
" WALK IN EARLY MORNING YARD" Vivina Ciolli
"Shameless Hymn" James Crews
"Free Day" James Crews
"Beckoning to Spring" Bob Eberth
"Dreamtime" Bob Eberth
"Dawn" Debby Franzoni
"His Silence" Debby Franzoni
"Parity" Alice Wolf Gilborn
"Dead of Night Dances Differently" Ruth Hamilton
"A View From The Bridge" Ruth Hamilton
"IN LOCO COLLEGIUM" Burnham Holmes
"POETRY MONTH OR THE CRUELEST MONTH—APRIL" Burnham Holmes
"Consequences" Wilma Ann Johnson
"Breaking Forth" Wilma Ann Johnson
"Princess Grace of Lake Sunapee" Luke Krueger
"Autumnal Burlesque" Luke Krueger
"Sarah's Moon" David Mook
"The Path of Poetry" David Mook
"Journey’s End" David Quesnel
"Hardscrabble Rural, a Poem" David Quesnel
"HIDDEN TREASURE" David Rynick
“D O W N sizing” Eileen Strickland-Holtham
“Childhood 1960’s” Eileen Strickland-Holtham
"The Turtle" Joyce Thomas
" Nocturne" Joyce Thomas
More Poems for National Poetry Month!
In recognition of National Potery Month in April. We will continue to share the moving words of our local SVA poets. Today's poem is from David Rynick. Enjoy!
"By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves
as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other.” - Rita Dove
HIDDEN TREASURE
For my mother on her 90th birthday
A small boy walks home from school
alone, slowly shuffling and kicking at
stones along the way. Head down,
he evenly sees what has been cast aside;
appreciating that which is of no use.
Now and then, something shiny
catches his eye: a colorful bottle cap,
a soda can flattened by a passing car,
an especially round stone. He stops
and stoops to examine more closely,
forgetting for a moment, his destination.
What intrigues him still, he picks up
and carries home for presentation
to his waiting mother. She greets
his little bits of the world as the treasures
they now are and praises him
for his careful eyes and tender heart.
Her delight with him and his world
becomes the treasure that guides
and sustains him across oceans
and decades as he walks
the many roads of his life.
By David Rynick
"By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves
as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other.” - Rita Dove
HIDDEN TREASURE
For my mother on her 90th birthday
A small boy walks home from school
alone, slowly shuffling and kicking at
stones along the way. Head down,
he evenly sees what has been cast aside;
appreciating that which is of no use.
Now and then, something shiny
catches his eye: a colorful bottle cap,
a soda can flattened by a passing car,
an especially round stone. He stops
and stoops to examine more closely,
forgetting for a moment, his destination.
What intrigues him still, he picks up
and carries home for presentation
to his waiting mother. She greets
his little bits of the world as the treasures
they now are and praises him
for his careful eyes and tender heart.
Her delight with him and his world
becomes the treasure that guides
and sustains him across oceans
and decades as he walks
the many roads of his life.
By David Rynick
Celebrate National Poetry Month with SVA!
April marks National Poetry Month. At SVA, we want to share the prose of our local poets. Let their inspiring words, give us moving reflection and bring us beauty and comfort during this trying time. We will soon be posting the poems throughout town so people can enjoy them as they walk down Main Street in Poultney. If you have a poem you'd like to share with us, send it to stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com.
To start off the month long poetry celebration, we share a poem from our own David Mook. Enjoy!
"I have nothing to say/ and I am saying it/ and that is poetry/ as I need it." - John Cage
The Path of Poetry
My shadow tells me there is light,
and so then, all morning, I follow it.
Finally, a high-noon moment of clarity,
truth, always there right under my feet.
But truth cannot save me. Confusion,
like my shadow, has a mind of its own
and soon returns. No rest, it seems eager
to reach out and join the coming darkness.
And so it often goes with writing poems.
You lay down a path of broken lines
and follow them down the page,
trying to say the unsayable.
Just when you think you've got it,
you realize that another line, a next
word even, will obscure all meaning.
And still, you cannot help yourself.
So you arrive back where you started
only to discover that while you were gone
nothing changed, yet everything is different.
The end is always a good place to begin again.
By David Mook - Poultney, VT
To start off the month long poetry celebration, we share a poem from our own David Mook. Enjoy!
"I have nothing to say/ and I am saying it/ and that is poetry/ as I need it." - John Cage
The Path of Poetry
My shadow tells me there is light,
and so then, all morning, I follow it.
Finally, a high-noon moment of clarity,
truth, always there right under my feet.
But truth cannot save me. Confusion,
like my shadow, has a mind of its own
and soon returns. No rest, it seems eager
to reach out and join the coming darkness.
And so it often goes with writing poems.
You lay down a path of broken lines
and follow them down the page,
trying to say the unsayable.
Just when you think you've got it,
you realize that another line, a next
word even, will obscure all meaning.
And still, you cannot help yourself.
So you arrive back where you started
only to discover that while you were gone
nothing changed, yet everything is different.
The end is always a good place to begin again.
By David Mook - Poultney, VT
STONE VALLEY ARTS BLOG
Welcome to Our Blog! Take a Virtual Tour of Museums!
"The Starry Night" by Vincent van Gogh on display at Museum of Modern Art. New York, NY. Take a virtual tour of the MOMA here.
We find ourselves in hard times for our nation and world. At Stone Valley Arts, we want to let you know you're in our thoughts and hearts. As your local arts center even though we can not open our doors and invite you into our gallery during this coronavirus pandemic we are committed to sharing positive vibes with our community. We wish to inspire our stong artistic group to connect each other through starting a blog. We will share positive news and encourage you to share with us what you are facing, what you are creating. Even though we can not see each other face to face we ask you to send us imagines of your new work, photos of nature your capture, new poems, and inspiring stories of neighbors coming together to help others. We hope this interaction with provide comfort to our community as we are in this together keeping the greater good in mind in the coming weeks.
Friends, we send you strength, hope, comfort and inspiration.
If you have something to feature on our blog, email us at: stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com .
While you're at home you may wish to take a virtual tour of one of our amazing museums to see highlights of their collections. Follow this link to explore the online galleries of museums such as:
National Gallery of Art: Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Friends, we send you strength, hope, comfort and inspiration.
If you have something to feature on our blog, email us at: stonevalleyartscenter@gmail.com .
While you're at home you may wish to take a virtual tour of one of our amazing museums to see highlights of their collections. Follow this link to explore the online galleries of museums such as:
National Gallery of Art: Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C.
Museum of Modern Art, New York City
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
American Museum of Natural History, New York City
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
High Museum of Art, Atlanta
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
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