Gloucester POETRY

Poem by Rufus Collinson

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“Night Windows” by Edward Hopper, 1928

“Night Windows” by Edward Hopper, 1928

Life Behind Lit Windows

Called upon again to drive

The air as cold in my blue van

as the night without

Dinner left behind to its own heat

The cranky engine warms

I settle back and look for life

behind lit windows

Taking the curves wide

I search kitchens for steam.

Blue rooms amber rooms

Upstairs windows shining bright

Edge of cupboard  glimpse of portrait

rows and rows of colored books

Sometimes whole rooms appear

with such lustre of light

such perspective of nook and beam

that I can see back and back

tablefuls of celebration

alcoves of despair.

Tonight I am just a tired driver

taking comfort in the hour of safe return.

People come home

preheat the oven

take a bath

admire the suspension

of spirits in a crystal glass

drink them in.

 ~ Ruthanne (Rufus) Collinson

Ruthanne (Rufus) Collinson has lived and loved in Gloucester all of her life. She worked for 25 years as 
Director of Publications for Project Adventure and served as Gloucester’s poet laureate for four years
(2009-2013).

A note from Ruthanne Collinson:

Being Poet Laureate is such a great honor and blessing to do what you love for the place that you love. I worked with the schools and the senior center; and, in addition to the Poet Laureate column in the Gloucester Times. I wrote poems for city events. I loved working with the schools. I would take the students on silent walks and then bring them back to the classroom and have them write what they saw and felt. It was always Amazing. I met many wonderful people through the Poet Laureate column as well.

Poem by Ivor Gurney

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A View of the Bay in Winter. Henry Martin Gasser (1909-1981)

The Uplands

Heaven blew clear of cloud, the beech
Hung full of stars, still or quaking,
The cold wind shivered my warm touch,
Ice in the white road crackled breaking.

It was an icy night of wonder,
Swift came the flurries of snow’s spite,–
All were asleep; beasts down in under
Depths of earth; safe from such night.

Songs of these hills when most happy
The day was for our Western men–
Sea songs, tunes of war and company–
Beaten by cold, my mouth cried again:

Echoing from the barn walls, Western
Songs fitting such place, racked and rang–
Great stars in their clear pattern
Smote the air with their fire’s clang.

And hiding the minutes from my frozen
Mind–at last came to Birdlip Corner–
Where the far lights of Gloucester showing,
Called me down, between Coopers and Chosen,
Where the lowland air was warmer,
And a fire waited, with tea things, blazing.

~ Ivor Gurney,   (1890–1937)

Ivor Gurney, born in Gloucester, UK, was a composer, poet and wounded WWI veteran. This week’s poem 
was discovered by Peter Anastas of Gloucester, MA. 

Poem by HB

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“The Tin Building, Commercial Street, the Fort, Gloucester, MA” by Hilary Frye (HB)

The Tin Building, Commercial Street, the Fort, Gloucester, MA by Hilary Frye (HB)

Dreamtime

Fear the Clown

He is us all

His tears’

Tattoo

Plays on down

His long sad cheeks

Burning through

His Enormous

Smiling lips

And quench

His drowning heart

It is time to sleep

Now,long and bold

Raise the dead cats

From the streets

And muster eunuch dogs

To wail

This inhospitality,

This rudeness

This day in

Day.

~ HB

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Hilary Frye is a Gloucester native who thrives on adventure, usually involving salt water. 
She is a certified sailing instructor who volunteers with Sail GHS. She writes poetry 
as HB.

Sail GHS

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Sail GHS Enlivens the Harbor
by Hilary Frye, with Patti Page
                                                                                                                                                            photos by Hilary Frye

…the sky, a besmudged cauldron, leaking sudden shafts of sunlight; the water, tossing quicksilver. Like crisp white cat’s ears, the sails pop up, and the near-empty harbor dances to life.

This was the scene on Gloucester Harbor on October 30, the last day of sailing for 2014. Sail GHS will be back on the water in the middle of March.

In 2008, Patti Page introduced scholastic sailing to our city. With a harbor as beautiful as ours, she envisioned a high school sailing team as a shining asset for this historic port.
With three donated C420 sailboats, and the quiet authority and guidance of Dr. Damon Cummings, she began to build a racing team
Page engaged Guy Fiero, a canny, creative instructor, with many years of experience, as the coach. Scouring the environs of Cape Ann, she banded together a crew of intrepid high school -aged sailors who took their place as the new sailing team, Sail GHS, in the Mass Bay League racing organization.
The competitive season for scholastic sailing is early spring, when conditions are cold,  stormy and unpredictable.  Sailing is arduous at best. Page spent many an afternoon with icy winds, stinging rains, and waves breaking over the bow of her 13 foot whaler, tending her skittering flock.
By diligent fund-raising, chasing grants and soliciting donations, she equipped her team with life vests, dry suits, chase boats, insurance, league fees, and a coach, with no cost to its young members.


The Dusky foundation, ever- generous with its community enrichment efforts, endorsed the conspicuous success of the program by donating, (in conjunction with Brown’s Yacht Yard,) six brand new C420s and a fully equipped chase boat.
In 2012,  Page motivated the city to appropriate funds to replace its derelict floats at the head of the harbor with a new state-of-the-art system. The  Sail GHS racing fleet now shares the floats with the Cape Ann YMCA summer program.
With persistent nurture, Patti Page’s one-time wish was emerging as a winged reality.
Page considers Sail GHS to be the foot in the door that keeps the gate from being slammed shut on public access to our harbor. She believes that the harbor is a resource to be enjoyed by all.
Many coastal cities and towns around the country are vigorously embracing Community Boating Centers as prosperous enterprises that invigorate their waterfronts. Patti is an active proponent for just such a center, here in Gloucester.
In light of what she has accomplished with discarded or donated gear, imagine what she could make happen given actual support from the city. Give her a chance, and she just might find a way for the city to enhance the existing harbormaster’s building as a public shore-side facility. Ward Councilors would like to hear your thoughts about programs such as Sail GHS.
 Sail GHS is a competitive high school sailing program which is open to the youth of Cape Ann and beyond. Contact info: sailghs@yahoo.com  Look for Sail GHS  on facebook.