PoemTown

Poemtown 2021 on Display

The work of 82 poets representing 42 Vermont towns will be on display in Randolph during the month of April.

WHALE DANCE — Exit 4, Interstate 89
All This — Carl Garguilo

RANDOLPH VILLAGE LAUNDROMAT — 75 North Main Street
Shimmering Icicles — Lynn Petrucelli
April — Tricia Knoll

CHANDLER MUSIC HALL — 71-73 North Main Street
Fiona’s Music — Mark Creaven
How Long? — Peggy Brightman

KIMBALL LIBRARY — 67 North Main Street
More — Judy Crocker
Elegy for Mary Oliver — Julie Cadwallader Staub

BETHANY CHURCH OFFICE — 30 North Main Street
Not a Racist — Peggy Whiteneck
Christmas Pageant — Judy Crocker
Liberty and Justice — Rebecca McMeekin

RANDOLPH HOUSE — 65 North Main Street
A Lesson Yet Learned — Jeff Corbett
Moving Forward, Albeit Slowly — Sarah Dickenson Snyder

DUBOIS & KING — 28 North Main Street
For a Friend (Dislocated) — Gina Logan
Mud, manure, Spring Painting, and The Trout — Madeline Bodin
Sliding Hill — Dottye Ricks
Hope January 2021— Cynthia Liepmann

SUPER SUDS — 10 Pleasant Street
Dream Fire — Leslie Blair
Forever Love — Bob Stänge
Agitator — Nancy Hewitt

FRANKENBURG AGENCY — 35 North Main Street
On this Last Day of Childhood — Steven Augustus

KEN’S BARBERSHOP — 33 North Main Street
Canoeing at Midnight — Debby Franzoni

KUYA’S SANDWICHES + KITCHEN — 29 North Main Street
N95 Bistro Bar — Donna Bramley

BAR HARBOR BANK & TRUST — 21 North Main Street
In the Yard — Ina Anderson
Inspiration — Timothy Barre
Dignity — Tim Eberhardt
Gift of Light — Barbara Stearns
The View from Here — Jeff Bernstein
Lady Slippers — Herbert Goertz
notes to my future self — Anne Bergeron
From Stone Road: Aimless, Burden, and Sliding — George Murphy

FORMER BELMAIN’S BUILDING — 15 North Main Street
Elegy — Andrea Rogers
Bird Play — Hatsy McGraw
Bird Feed – Kasey Brooks
Catbird Song — Mel Goertz
Dream Visitation #1 — Megan Buchanan
What I Am Learning About Grief — Patricia Alley
Palindrome — Rebecca McMeekin
Cages — Ina Anderson

ONE MAIN TAP & GRILL — 2 Merchants Row
Remainder Snow — Tricia Knoll
That Kind of Summer — John Powell
Ode to the Box — Charlie Farrell
2020 Plague — Jack Mayer

FISHER AUTO PARTS — 10 Merchants Row
Emergency Room — Douglas Leonard
Mirage — Colby Lynch
Ancient Tomorrow — Emerson Gale
Apparition — Ann Cooper
Nature — Atticus Kunkel
Slumber — Wilma Ann Johnson
Once is All it Takes — Debby Franzoni
The Yearbook Photo — Gina Logan
Like a Phoenix from the Ashes — Brigitte Lent

BLACK MEADOW GALLERY & TATTOO — 18 Merchant’s Row
The Barn — Jon Kaplan

HAPPY HARVEST ORGANICS — 20 Merchants Row
Sun and Sea — Hatsy McGraw

THE GEAR HOUSE — 16 Pleasant Street
Words Get in the Way — Bonnie Beck

TRILLIUM — 24 Pleasant Street
Church at Murnau II — Nancy Hewitt
Blues News — Sandra Edmonds

KIDS PLAY — 22 Pleasant Street
Things Left to Be Found — Brooke Herter James
My Balloon — Georgia Kunkel

HUGGABLE MUG CAFE— 22 Pleasant Street
Rage — Melanie Adams
Five Friends — Kathryn Schenkman

THE BOOK SHOP — 28 Pleasant Street
Poem Catchers — Leslie Blair
A Poem About Poetry — Samantha Smith

THE HERALD — 30 Pleasant Street
Ruth Stone — Tricia Knoll
Vernacular — Janet Watton
He’ll Do it for You — Nancy Hewitt

THE BLACK KRIM TAVERN — 21 Merchants Row
Cooking a Poem — Peggy Whiteneck

VERMONT COMPUTING — 23 Merchant’s Row
March 7, 2020 — Letitia Rydjeski
The Snow Falls from the East — Jonathan Root

SIDEWALK FLORIST — 19 Merchants Row
The Steel Gray Days of January — Janet Hayward Burnham
Thesaurus — Judy Crocker

NEW MOON ON MAIN — 8 North Main Street
Moonstruck — Janet Watton
Flower Moon — V Charleigh Robillard
I Knew the Day Would Come — Timothy Swaim Johnson

NORTHFIELD SAVINGS BANK — 2 North Main Street
Ms Gorman — Joan Mathews
Poem for a Pandemic — Henry Ellis
Grateful — Ina Anderson
Lay down your arms brother — Geza Tatrallyay
Old Country — Peter Dregallo

WILSON TIRE — 5 Salisbury Street
Davey — Kathryn Schenkman

RANDOLPH COAL & OIL — 8 Salisbury Street
What I Want — Sarah Dickenson Snyder
The Arrogant Turkey — William Severy

RANDOLPH POLICE STATION — 6 Salisbury Street
January — Anne Bakeman
Stalled — Anne Bower

BOB’S M&M BEVERAGE — 4 Salisbury Street
Firefly Sonnet — Steven Yaskell

CHEF’S MARKET — 2 Salisbury Street
Egg Salad — Jean Beatson
The Reverb — Christina Strong

STAGECOACH — Depot Square
Two Miles Up — Christina Strong

HERITAGE REAL ESTATE — 10 South Main Street
How to Get to Your House — Christina Strong

AL’S PIZZA — 12 South Main Street
Ireland’s Eye — John Powell
Cooking with Sam — Jean Beatson
The Taste of Delight —- JC Wayne
Call — Corinne Davis

SANEL / NAPA AUTO PARTS — 3 South Main Street
At a Yard’s Length — Hatsy McGraw
The Visitor — Pamela Ahlen
Decision — Clifford Giffin
Or Not — Anne Bower
Shower — Julie Cadwallader Staub

THE PLAYHOUSE — 11 South Main Street
On the Edge of Evening — Janet Watton
The American Scene — Cynthia Liepmann
Excerpt from The Walden Poems … Latin Class 1958 — Jeanne Ward
Reach — Betsy Unger

BEACON PRINTING — 18 South Main Street
… and beyond — Tim Eberhardt
Nectar — Rebecca McMeekin

CENTRAL SUPPLIES — 839 VT Route 12 South
Ars Poetica — Brooke Herter James

RIVER WALK — accessed at the right corner of the Valley Bowl parking lot off Prince Street
Dawn — Jools Skeet
Among the Branches — Jim Schley
Outdoor Classroom — Bobbe Pennington
Sentient Ferns — Jack Mayer
spring ghazal — Cynthia Liepmann
Beauty by the River Bank — Emma Anderson
Birdwatching in a Time of Pandemic — Angela Burke Kunkel
Blue Jay — Julie Cadwallader Staub

RANDOLPH REGIONAL VETERINARY HOSPITAL — 86 Dylan Drive
Battle of the Horns — Sydney Lea
Anniversary with Dogs — Jeff Bernstein
The Dogs Watch the Northern Light — Betsy Unger
What’s Next — Bonnie Watters

Poem Town Randolph 2021

The 2021 poems are going up in the storefronts all over Randolph and along the river trail. We received more poems than ever this year. Eighty two poets from 42 towns across the state submitted their work to Randolph’s eighth annual PoemTown celebration.

We thank all the poets for their generosity in sharing these poems, about to be displayed during April, National Poetry Month, and also to be published in our anthology for PoemTown 2021.

Sadly, because of Covid 19, we chose not to schedule any poetry events again this year. However, we have an exciting new plan: April-in-August!

During August, we will be holding a few wonderful Poem Town events:

A Reading by two special Vermont Poets: A Sunday afternoon event, out on the lawn at the White River Craft Center

Poetry Open Mic: A Sunday afternoon event, out on the lawn at the White River Craft Center

Farmer Poets Night: Our event that’s become a wonderful tradition, this time on a mid-week August evening at the Silloway Sugarhouse.

Details of these events are yet to be determined. Stay tuned and watch this page! We hope you’re as excited as we are.

The Poem Town team

2019 Poem Locations

River Walk
Trish Alley — Songbird Dreams
Blair Brooks — That Tuft
Corinne Davis — The Heist
Michael Farrand — Sticking to Vermont
William Graham — A Quiet Place
Brook Herter James — At the Edge
Wilma Ann Johnson — persistent tapping
Jonathan Root — Blink
Shannon Trigos — Pockets of Heaven to Be Glimpsed

Randolph Village Laundromat – 75 North Main Street
Genevieve Bronk — The Aloe Plant in the Doctor’s Office
Gus Speth — What He Could Have Done

Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street
Hatsy McGraw — Best Dancer
Janet Watton — The Harp Player

Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street
Bonnie Beck — For Mary Oliver
Yvonne Daly — The Most Detailed Map
Rebecca McMeekin — Middle School Science
Andrea Rogers — Lament
Christina Strong — Meditations on Resolutions

Randolph House – 65 North Main Street
Bonnie Beck — My Dad’s Handkerchief
Nancy Vandenburgh — Step Out

Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street
Peter Dregallo — Filling Voids
Becky Farmer — Quandary
Wilma Ann Johnson — Oh, what a morning!

Green Light Café – 22 Pleasant Street
Steve Augustus — Growing Older
Brook Herter James — Every Morning Now
Michelle Holder — Maybe We’re All Saints
Geza Tatrallyay — I often wonder when I see …

Trillium — 24 Pleasant Street
Anne Bower — For my Tai Chi colleagues
Cynthia Liepmann — Half Mast

The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street
Anne Bakeman — Dryocopus pileatus
Judy Crocker — Grammar Lessons
Dick Drysdale — Mahatma

Vermont Computing – 23 Merchants Row
Carl Garguilo — Digital Deletes
Hatsy McGraw — Imbolc

The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row
Melanie Adams — A Hard Day

Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row
Yvonne Daly — Spring Vigil
Michelle Holder — February

The Red Door – 20 Merchants Row
Genevieve Bronk — Lavender
Tom Martin — coincidence

Flats Tatooing of Vermont – 18 Merchants Row
Brook Herter James — Route 90 Westbound

Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row
Melanie Adams — Rusty Nail
Roderick Bates — After the Rapture
Audrey Boerum — The Iron Cat
Anne Bower — November storm
Judy Crocker — Japanese Beetles
George Murphy — Days
George Murphy — Blood
George Murphy — Past
Jack Rossi — Letting Go
Heather Steliga — Tribute to a Victorious Vermonter

One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row
Laura Foley — Flowers in a Ball Jar
Debby Franzoni — At the Downtown Diner
Gina Logan — The Haitian Workers in the Thruway Cafeteria
Janet Watton — Spring

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust – 21 North Main Street
Steve Augustus — Catch Her Breath
Jeff Bernstein — My Scientific Submission Process
Rebecca McMeekin — Saltwater Farm, September
Judy Crocker — The Morning I Chose Not to Listen to NPR
Nancy Hewitt — Morning After First Frost
George Longenecker — Summer Lingered
Jack Mayer — God Particle
Janet Watton — Perfection

Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street
Gina Logan — The Tracks in this Morning’s Snow

The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street
Deb Chadwick — Peaceful

Bethany Church Office – 29 North Main Street
James Barrett — Rachel
Lindy Sayward — Saving Earth
Jim Schley — Dumbstruck

DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street
Bonnie Beck — Rolling Rock
Jack Mayer — In Memoriam — SVEA Camp Stove
Verandah Porche — These Are Just to Say
Marshall Witten — Late April

Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street
Ina Anderson — My Mother’s Purse
Nancy Hewitt — Chanel No. 5

Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street
Peter Fernandez — Detoxification Unit 17, B-Wing
Debby Franzoni — And It Was Her Favorite
Nancy Hewitt — Lesion
Verandah Porche — True Haiku: 01.02
Shannon Trigos — When You Go Away

East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street
Pamela Ahlen — At the Botanic Garden in Claremont, CA

Wilson Tire – 5 Salisbury Street
Tom Martin — Nervous

Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street
Genevieve Bronk — The Coach
Doreen Guillette — Wisdom of a Maple Tree
Janet Hayward Burnham — Over the Top
Sandra Maccarrone — February

Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street
Jack Mayer — BLOOD — House-call on the Canadian border
Verandah Porche — So Long, L. Cohen

Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street
Roderick Bates — The Art of the Relationship

Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street
Carl Garguilo — To Each

Chef’s Market — 2 Salisbury Street
Jeff Bernstein — Winter Market
Elissa Doering — Before the Neighborhood Wakes
Judith Hishikawa — Strawberry Moments
Rebecca McMeekin — Catching the Light

Stagecoach – Depot Square
Yvonne Daly — Travelling

NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply – 3 South Main Street
Pamela Ahlen — You take the Moto Guzzi for a ride
Roderick Bates — Coldest Thanksgiving on Record
Ann Cooper — Driving North
Tim Eberhardt — My Father Always Said
Jenny Rossi — The War is Never Over

Heritage Real Estate — 10 South Main Street
Steven Yaskell — The Dog Mountains

The Playhouse – 11 South Main Street
Jeff Bernstein — Popping Corn on the Interstate

Beacon Printing – 18 South Main Street
Anne Bergeron — For My Father
Audrey Boerum — A Poet Is ….

Curves – 12½ South Main Street
Barbara Stearns — 90+

Al’s Pizza – 12 South Main Street
Lukina Andreyev — And I Lost Me
Audrey Boerum — I Declare My Coronation
Carl Garguilo — Angels
Shannon Trigos — Warm Innocence

Former Verizon Building — corner of Main Street and Merchants Row
Anne Bower —- Mt. Ascutney
Ann Cooper — Man’s Fate
Tim Eberhardt — A Hospital Death
Emerson Gale — Winter Garden
Michelle Holder — Pit Stop Near the Boofy Quimby Memorial Center
Cynthia Liepmann — Time
Julie Longstreth — Osteo-dendrochronology

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital – 86 Dylan Drive
Debby Franzoni — Snapshot
Jack Rossi — Luna (Please Leave The Cat Downstairs Tonight, Dear)
Susan Shea — Missing Marmalade
Bonnie Watters — Silvio Loves His Stones

2018 Poem Locations

Randolph Village Laundromat – 75 North Main Street

Pamela Ahlen — Random Act

Corinne Davis — First Snow

Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street

Ina Anderson — Concert

Elizabeth Michael — The Pianist

Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street

Janet Hayward Burnham — A Poetry Lesson

Ann Cooper — Unbidden

Kathryn Dodge — The Writer By the Water

Elissa K. Doering — A Few Thoughts for David

Michael J. Farrand — Laureate of Your Heart

Debby Franzoni — Perhaps it was Mary Oliver

Phillip Mulligan — Brownian Motion (pedesis)

Randolph House – 65 North Main Street

Eileen Dolan — yes – it rains in June

Caroline Sergeant — Space Ship Challenger

Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street

Amy Belding Brown — Spring Cleaning

Three Bean Café – 22 Pleasant Street

Steve Augustus — After Sam Hamill Came to It

Anne Bower — Braiding

Amy Belding Brown — Apologia

The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street

Pamela Harrison — Love’s Gazetteer

Craig Line — particle physics

Samn Stockwell — Goat

First Light Studios – 34 Pleasant Street

Anne Bergeron — After the Ice Storm

Janet Hayward Burnham — Soft Light Appearing

Julie Longstreth — Void

Vermont Computing Cooperative – 23 Merchants Row

Laura Foley — Fractalization

The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row

Jack Rossi — The Tempest

Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row

Anne Bower — Hands

Becky McMeekin — Flowers by the Sea

Fenix Fine Foods – 20 Merchants Row

Charleigh Robillard — Winter Musing

Janet Watton — Carpe Diem

Flats Tatooing of Vermont – 18 Merchants Row

Elaine Pauley — Aboriginal Connections

Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row

Ann Cooper — Crows’ Nest

Wilma Ann Johnson — mountain tunnel

Joan Mathews — A Random Thought While Driving

Jack Rossi — A Minor Distraction

One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row

Amy Belding Brown — Psalm for November

Judy Crocker — Farm Stand Route 15 Jericho

Hatsy McGraw — Preparing for Winter

Andrea Rogers — The Sum of Summer

Clara Martin Center – 11 North Main Street

Genevieve Bronk — A Poem for My Teenage Daughter

Belmains – 14 North Main Street

Melanie J. Adams — Pemaquid

Pamela Ahlen — It happens every year

Beverly Breen — Below Zero in Sunshine

Danny Dover — Good

Laura Foley — Corked

Marjorie Ryerson — Wal-Mart Shoppers

Jim Schley — Time Being

Lake Sunapee Bank – 21 North Main Street

Genevieve Bronk — Radiation

Roger Dodge — Still Watching

David Stauffer — Mercy

Barbara Stearns — Flight to Safety

Samn Stockwell — Marshfield Dam

Nancy Vandenburgh — To Have and To Hold

Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street

Steve Augustus — Ways In

The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street

Gina Logan — Because

Bethany Church Office – 29 North Main Street

Chard deNiord — Grief is the River with a Foreign Name

Becky McMeekin — Parable of Loss

Mark 1:4-8 — Lava Mueller

DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street

Janet Hayward Burnham — January Thaw

Barbara Stearns — Summer Time When Nine

Station Break – 26 North Main Street

Abbie Holden — The Incredible Confidence of Becoming a Redhead

Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street

Debra Chadwick — The Blue Dragonfly

Bonnie Fallon — Frosty Filigree

Brooke Herter James — Sun Dog, Wolf Moon

Elizabeth Michael — Blue Bucket (Haiti)

Samn Stockwell — Minor Carta

Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street

Lukina Andreyev — Advice From The Month Of September

Debra Chadwick — Making a Splash

Danny Dover — Geese

Brooke Herter James — First Snow

Tom Martin — Ms. Agnes

East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street

Andrea Rogers — Persistence

Wilson Tire – 5 Salisbury Street

Jack Mayer —Searching for My Dead Mother’s Car

Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street

Nancy Hewitt — Nevertheless, she persisted

Jack Mayer — Thank you, Vice-Admiral Vasili Arkhipov (1926 – 1998)

Elaine Pauley — Civil Disobedience

Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street

Verandah Porche — Say When

Geza Tatrallyay — Saturn (hommage à Cassini)

Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street

Joyce Borthwick-Leslie — Waiting

Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street

Janet E. Green — A Suicide

Blooming Treasures — 3 Salisbury Street

Debby Franzoni — Re-Rooting

Julie Cadwallader Staub — Letting Go

Stagecoach – Depot Square

James Barrett — Frost Moment

Randolph Village Pizza – 1 South Main Street

John Coulter — Winter Storm

NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply – 3 South Main Street

Judy Crocker — Accident

Marian Leavitt Levasseur — I Would Like …

Stephen Morris — Iconic Pneumonic

George Murphy — Safety, Grief & Gray (3 poems)

Andrea Rogers — To Become Whole

Heritage Real Estate — 10 South Main Street

Peggy Rose Whiteneck — Taylor at Four

The Playhouse – 11 South Main Street

Peggy Rose Whiteneck — Across the Border

Beacon Printing – 18 South Main Street

Julie Cadwallader Staub — Winter Sacrament

Verandah Porche — So Gay You Spring

Curves – 12½ South Main Street

Marjorie Ryerson — The Body Politic

Al’s Pizza – 12 South Main Street

Judith Hishikawa — Freezing Night

Michelle Holder — Dusk

Sandra Maccarrone — Different

Sharon Moulton — Windowsill

Former Verizon Building
corner of Main Street and Merchants Row

Debby Franzoni — The Trickster

Craig Line — Radiation Oncology

Jack Mayer — Grandmother’s Blessing

David Stauffer — Recapture

Janet Watton — Without Us

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital – 86 Dylan Drive

Caitlin Frauton — Tracks (for Joyce)

Nancy Hewitt — I didn’t know that sunlight had a scent

Susan Shea — My Morning Routine

Peggy Rose Whiteneck — There’s Just No Crating a Cat

104 poems

2017 Poem Locations

Randolph Village Laundromat – 75 North Main Street
Janet E. Green – The Laundromat
Jamie K. Connor – Linda’s Daughter

Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street
Becky McMeekin – Elegy for 100 Pianos
Jacob Louis d’Antonio – Vermont Has Talent

Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street
Nancy Hewitt – No Words, Plenty of Language
Michelle Holder – In October, Grandmother

Randolph House – 65 North Main Street
Jeanne Ward – Mr. Charles Comfort
Marshall Chase – Randolph Center School, 1962

Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street
Janet E. Green – God in unsuspected places
Dak Gustal – Flying Off
Anne Bower – Holding Pattern

Three Bean Café – 22 Pleasant Street
Andrea Rogers – Making Soup
Laura Foley – The Wrangler
Susan Delattre – Morning on the Deck

The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street
Julie Cadwallader Staub – Two Poets
Victoria Crain – Darklings
Stephen Morris – The Precision of Language

First Light Studios – 34 Pleasant Street
Janet Watton – Heedless

Vermont Computing Cooperative – 23 Merchants Row
Geza Tatrallyay – For a Squashed Land Crab

The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row
Thomas Martin – Gram’s

Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row
Lindy Sayward – Tangible Hope
Anne Bower – Patio Performance

Fenix Fine Foods – 20 Merchants Row
Kathryn Dodge – Nourishment
Peggy Rose Whiteneck – Alternate Universes

Flats Tatooing of Vermont – 18 Merchants Row
Chloe Viner – Thelma

Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row
Gary Margolis – It’s January and feels like November
Steve Dushan – Megus
Barbara Stearns – The Invitation
Wilma Ann Johnson – The Unexpected
Elisha Joy West – Haven

One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row
Becky McMeekin – Watching the Olympics
Ina Anderson – Big Dipper
Anne Bakeman – Hermit Thrush
Carolyn Sobel – Friends

Clara Martin Center – 11 North Main Street
Becky McMeekin – Girl with a Blue-Rimmed Bowl
Gina Logan – Alexander

Belmains – 14 North Main Street
Bonnie Beck – Valentine
Carolyn Sobel – Aura
Jack Mayer – I Am a God to the Birds
Genevieve Bronk – Life
Cynthia Liepmann – Keys
Julie Cadwallader Staub – Staple
Anne Bakeman – Darn Tough
Gary Margolis – Love Beyond Us and the Falling

Lake Sunapee Bank – 21 North Main Street
Nancy Hewitt – Calm Before Sandy
Wilma Ann Johnson – Au Printemps
George Murphy – Travelers
Audrey J. Boerum – The Wind …
Charleigh – Newfoundland
Geza Tatrallyay – Mo(u)rning
Julie Longstreth – Black and White
Gary Margolis – In the Laboratory

Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street
Gina Logan – Wild Turkeys Mating

Holiday Beauty Salon – 33 North Main Street
Roger Dodge – Monday Was A Holiday

The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street
Jon Kaplan – A Visit with Dad

Bethany Church Office – 29 North Main Street
Jack Mayer – Singing Over
Andrea Rogers – Wedding Dance
Joyce Borthwick-Leslie – On This Summer Morning I Lie on a Hillside and Think of God

DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street
Joyce Borthwick-Leslie – His Legacy
Judy Crocker – Beyond Lascaux

Station Break – 26 North Main Street
Carolyn Sobel – Writer

Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street
Chloe Viner – Heritage
Verandah Porche – 01.05.17: feels like 10
Kira Delhagen – La Finca Hermedad
Johnathan Coulter – Nature’s Loom
Janet Watton – Our Autumn Blaze

Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street
Judy Crocker – Break
Michelle Holder – On Display
Victoria Crain – Time Wrap
David Stauffer – A Summer Sonnet
Barbara Stearns – To Know Or Not To Know

East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street
Bonnie Fallon – The Sun Rises in the East

Wilson Tire – 5 Salisbury Street
Michelle Holder – After the Winter Blues

Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street
Debby Franzoni – Election Time
Don Payton – The Pendulum Always Swings
Joan Mathews – Ask the Mothers
Phyllis Davis – A Childhood Memory

Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street
Peggy Rose Whiteneck – Climate Change
Victoria Crain – Anthropocene Era

Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street
Bonnie Beck – Bear

Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street
Verandah Porche – Little Winter: April Fools

Stagecoach – Depot Square
Lukina Andreyev – Traveling

Randolph Village Pizza – 1 South Main Street
Carl Garguilo – Liquid Grace

NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply – 3 South Main Street
Megan Buchanan – Pickup
Gina Logan – Wood
Sharon Moulton – Covered Roads
Peggy Brightman – Primavera Comes
Pamela Ahlen – Playing with Elves at Midnight

The Playhouse – 11 South Main Street
Geza Tatrallyay – Ember eyes

Beacon Printing – 18 South Main Street
Pamela Ahlen – Wayside Tree
Corinne Davis – The Dance

Curves – 12½ South Main Street
Carl Garguilo – The Gravity of Living

Century 21 – 12½ South Main Street
Janet Hayward Burnham – 1781

Al’s Pizza – 12 South Main Street
Elaine Pauley – First Poem
Elissa Doering – To Journey to Raccoon Cove
Elizabeth Mariani – When You’re on The List
Susan Delattre – At Lake Champlain

Former Verizon Building
corner of Main Street and Merchants Row
Laura Foley – Twice the Speed of Sound
Verandah Porche – Eve After
Alden Blodgett – Images and Instinct
Pamela Ahlen – Wild Oats
Margo Marrone – Seeing with New Eyes

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital – 86 Dylan Drive
Debby Franzoni – Tonight at the Lake House
Cynthia Liepmann – Dog
Laura Foley – When I Went Out This Morning

Central Supplies – 839 VT Route 12
Judy Crocker – House Key

Chef’s Market – 839 VT Route 12
Julie Cadwallader Staub – Ode to Salted Caramels

PoemTown Randolph Receives an Owl Award for Best Innovative Community Offering!

Each September The Complete Hoot Guide to Arts and Events in the Upper Valley sponsors The Owl Awards. Through these awards, the regional arts publication honors regional excellence in the arts. The categories are determined by, and then voted on, by its readership. This year a new category was introduced, and PoemTown Randolph earned recognition as the Best Innovative Community Offering.

Poems-in-the-Windows by Gary Margolis

I wouldn’t choose to be sitting inside
this Sunday afternoon either, on the first day

of real spring. Thinking a few poems would do me
more good than shoveling the last mounds of snow

next to the opera house into a wheelbarrow. A scene
I saw walking around Randolph before the reading.

This place the arts committee named PoemTown
for April’s national poetry month. Inviting citizens

from around our state to submit a poem that could fit
into a window, a driver filling her tank could read.

A teenager trying to buy cigarettes could hesitate,
before going into the convenience store, pondering

what that last line meant. Forgetting the law he was
trying to break. I wish I had more time to read all one

hundred and eight of them. So many windows,
so little time is the title of the poem taped in Aubuchon’s

tinted window. Inside, the shovels and rakes selling faster
than pancakes. I’d be amiss to call anything else.

Here where the sap is flowing and driving over Bethel
Mountain I saw the beginning of flowers splitting

rocks without hesitating, that wouldn’t be caught dead
inside, to adorn a poetry reading.

2016 Poem Locations

Poems to be displayed throughout April—National Poetry Month.

River Path
accessed at Valley Bowl Parking lot, 12 Prince Street

Laura Foley – Spring Treachery
Corinne Davis – The Storm
Lindy Sayward – Aliveness
Elizabeth Mariani – Influence
Mark Fournier – August 29
Rebecca Riley – Break Up
Wilma Ann Johnson – November Blessing
Rochelle Wilson – God Knows

Randolph Village Laundromat
75 North Main Street

Partridge Boswell – Two Euros
Wilma Ann Johnson – Transition

Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street

Marjorie Ryerson – S. Hurok Presents
Janet Watton – Winter Dances

Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street

Stephen Morris – Citizens of Library
Judy Crocker – A Writer’s Place

Randolph House – 65 North Main Street

David Stauffer – In My Son’s Eyes
Suzanne Sakai – Old Maples: One Hundred Years of Marriage

Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street

Michelle Holder – Light Denizens
Steven Augustus – Asking Baskets for Heads
George Murphy – A Gift & Moonlight

Three Bean Café – 22 Pleasant Street

Julie Cadwallader Staub – Recipe
Michelle Holder – Astral
Wilma Ann Johnson – Thanksgiving Eves

The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street

Marjorie Ryerson – To Anne Sexton
Katie Jickling – Dissection
Dick Drysdale – Osama Bin Laden Watches His First Episode of the Jerry Springer Show

First Light Studios – 34 Pleasant Street

Shannon Blake – 35 mm

Catamount Solar – 34 Pleasant Street

Charles Sabukewicz – The Blue Woodstove
Joyce Borthwick-Leslie – Closure

Vermont Computing Cooperative – 23 Merchants Row

Jack Rossi – August
Gina Logan – Always May
Peggy Rose Whiteneck – What Goes Together Stays Together
Pam Ahlen – Mission Impossible?

The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row

Charleigh – Heirloom Dreams

Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row

Lindy Sayward – Ode to Brown Eyed Susans
Pam Ahlen – Dying Queen Anne’s Lace

Fenix Fine Foods – 20 Merchants Row

Jack Mayer – Green Tea on Jay Peak

Flats Tatooing of Vermont – 18 Merchants Row

Guy Flatley – Dog Prayer

Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row

Steven Augustus – In Order
Margaret Abbott – Rebirth
Christen Brooks – That First Night (Nicholas Garza)
David Stauffer – To a Cicada
Gina Logan – Winterkill

One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row

Becky McMeekin – Kodachrome
Jamie Gage – Mallaig, 1901
Katie Jickling – The Things You Knew: A Eulogy
Daniel Lazar – If This World Was Enough For You It Will Be Enough For Me

Clara Martin Center – 11 North Main Street

Nancy Hewitt – Genealogy
Daniel Lazar – Enough (for the Hard Nights)

Belmains – 14 North Main Street

Marya Merriam – Poems everyone else has written, Part I
Robbie Pfeufer Kahn – Bruxism watch
Barbara Stearns – Rooted in Vermont
Alec Hastings – Old Shoes
Debby Franzoni – Grown Up in Vermont
Ina Anderson – Prodigal
Daniel Lazar – Warning
Janet Watton – Ant Hills

Lake Sunapee Bank – 21 North Main Street

Gary Margolis – Launch Day at Basin Harbor
Nancy Hewitt – Since you died,
Julie Longstreth – Grief
Megan Buchanan – Winter Polaroids from Vermont
Danny Dover – Under Aegis of High Pressure
Partridge Boswell – Lucky Scars
Charles Sabukewicz – Night Visit
Verandah Porche – What ISIS is Not

Art of Vermont – 27 North Main Street

Megan Buchanan – How Did You Know
Partridge Boswell – Shut Up & Kiss Me

Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street

Bonnie Beck – William Francis Beck 1943 – 2015

Holiday Beauty Salon – 33 North Main Street

Chloe Viner – Doors

The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street

Margaret Abbott – Infatuation

Bethany Church Office – 29 North Main Street

Katie Jickling – Out of Eden
Michelle Holder – Of Farm and of Faith: An Offering
Gary Margolis – Taking the Weather Personally

DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street

Dick Drysdale – Lethal Injection

Station Break – 26 North Main Street

Chloe Viner – Hairdo

Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street

Becky McMeekin – Netherland
Marjorie Ryerson – Blending with Light
Julie Longstreth – November
Kathryn Dodge – Culture Clash
Robbie Pfeufer Kahn – The morning of the day she died

Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street

Verandah Porche – Life After Death: How One Swallow Makes a Summer
Jamie Gage – Billy
Gary Margolis – Electing Winter
Jack Mayer – Receive What Is Offered
Julie Longstreth – Toad

East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street

Janet Watton – Un Bel Di

Wilson Tire – 5 Salisbury Street

Julie Cadwallader Staub – Winter Sacrament

Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street

Donald Payton – Vermont is God’s Country
Chloe Viner – Trying to Find You
Pam Ahlen – Nature is not a place to visit, it is home
Kathryn Dodge – From His Point of View

Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street

Roger Dodge – Reception
Anne Bower – Grit

Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street

Laura Foley – The Sound of the Space

Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street

Laura Foley – Tientsin, December 1941

Randolph Depot – 2 Salisbury Street

Joyce Borthwick-Leslie – Duty

Stagecoach – Depot Square

Dick Drysdale – People who Talk

Randolph Village Pizza – 1 South Main Street

Ian A. Worley – Rules at Our Home

NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply – 3 South Main Street

Jack Mayer – A Boy Is Missing
Julie Cadwallader Staub – Lesson Before a Road Trip
Andrea Rogers – Fall Wonder
Ian A. Worley – Goshawk Guilt
Peggy Rose Whiteneck – Branding

The Playhouse – 11 South Main Street

Marya Merriam – I can compartmentalize, so these things are separate:

Mid-State Sports – 17 South Main Street

Bonnie Beck – Gatling Gun

Vermont Maple BBQ – 17 South Main Street

Roger Dodge – Sonatina

China Jade – 17 South Main Street

Janet E. Green – My Mother-in-Law

Beacon Printing – 18 South Main Street

Suzanne Sakai – December’s Infinity
James Barrett – So Many Trees

Curves – 12½ South Main Street

Cynthia Liepmann – it’s an odd thing

Century 21 – 12½ South Main Street

Judy Crocker – Home Cooking

Al’s Pizza – 12 South Main Street

James Barrett – In the Deep Green
Steven Augustus – Cool In Its Right Time
Kristin Husher – A tiny chime
Anne Bower – Ink

Former Verizon Building
corner of Main Street and Merchants Row

Ina Anderson – The Taj Across the River
Debby Franzoni – A Vermont Neighborhood – 1950’s
Kathryn Dodge – Taking Time
Barbara Stearns – The Perfect Gift
Robbie Pfeufer Kahn – LL Bean Transforming

Gifford Thrift Shop – 52 South Main Street

Alec Hastings – American Mona Lisa

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital – 86 Dylan Drive

Charles Sabukewicz – The Stone Cat
R.D. Colgan – Entertainment
Peggy Rose Whiteneck – Why Talk to Animals?
Sandra Maccarrone – Three Cat-lets

Central Supplies – 839 VT Route 12

Nancy Hewitt – Sebastian

Chef’s Market – 839 VT Route 12

Becky McMeekin – New Fruit

2016 Poets

Pamela Ahlen is currently program coordinator for Bookstock (Woodstock, Vermont), the Green Mountain Literary Festival. She organizes literary readings for Osher (Lifelong Education at Dartmouth). Pam received an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the author of the chapbook “Gather Every Little Thing” (Finishing Line Press).

Ina Anderson grew up in England, but has lived in Sharon, VT for many years. She spent her professional life as a technical editor and as a community college educator. Now retired, she has time for her life-long love of poetry and fiber arts. Ina has led poetry groups at the Writers’ Center in White River Junction and at Baxter Library in Sharon. Some of her poems were published in the poetry group anthology, “Perhaps it was the Pie.” Her first collection, Before I Left, will be published by this fall.

Danny Dover lives with his wife Mary in a remodeled schoolhouse in Bethel. He received his B.A. from Antioch College in 1971 and also holds Associate Degrees in Surveying Technology and Keyboard Technology. Danny was the piano technician at Dartmouth College for seventeen years and continues servicing pianos part-time. Previously he worked as a folksinger, contradance musician, dulcimer maker, foundry patternmaker, and surveyor. Danny serves on the Board of Hands in Outreach, Inc., a small non-profit coordinating educational sponsorships for very poor children in Nepal. His poems have appeared in Blueline and numerous issues of Bloodroot Literary Magazine. He has published one chapbook, Kindness Soup, Thankful Tea (Dhotarap Press, 2006). Danny was a 2013 Pushcart nominee. His first full-length book of poetry, “Tasting Precious Metal,” was recently published by Antrim House Books.

Chard deNiord is Vermont’s newly-appointed Poet Laureate. Born in New Haven, CT and raised in Lynchburg, VA, he anticipated going into the medical profession until college professors introduced him to religious studies. After graduating from Lynchburg College, deNiord earned his MDiv from Yale Divinity School. Before pursuing ordination, he working as an inpatient psychiatric aide at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Five years later, he left to pursue poetry, attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received his MFA in 1985. Returning to New England, deNiord taught at private schools for over a decade while publishing his poems. In 1990, he published his first collection, “Asleep in the Fire” (University of Alabama Press), while teaching comparative religions and philosophy at the Putney School.

In 1998, deNiord began teaching at Providence College, where he was eventually named the tenth recipient of the Joseph R. Accinno Faculty Teaching Award. That same year, he founded the Spirit and Letter Workshop, a ten-day program of workshops and lectures in Patzquaro, Mexico, featuring faculty poets such as Thomas Lux, Gerald Stern, Jean Valentine and Ellen Bryant Voigt. In 2002, deNiord cofounded the New England College MFA program in poetry, which he directed until 2007.

In addition to several collections of poetry, he has authored a book of essays and interviews with renowned poets. He is currently a professor of English at Providence College. He lives in Westminster West with his wife, Liz.

Dick Drysdale grew up in Randolph and succeeded his father as editor and publisher of Randolph’s weekly newspaper, then the White River Valley Herald, in 1971, when he was 26. He sold the paper in June 2015, when he was rather older. Dick’s written output has mostly been newspaper stories and editorials, some of which have received statewide attention and he was inducted into the New England Press Association’s Hall of Fame a year ago. He has enjoyed writing poetry but hasn’t written much of it. He insists that he experienced a Fertile Period for about 15 months some 20 years ago and has been mired in a Fallow Period ever since. A few of his poems have been published in literary journals and 15 in his own book “Vermont Moments” published late last year.

Jamie Gage is a Vermonter, father and husband, poet and writer who has won fellowships to the Vermont Studio Center and Vermont Arts Council. His work has been published in dozens of periodicals and literary journals including Main Street Rag, Inkwell, Out of Line, Mountain Gazette, Powhatan Review, and others. His first book of poems “True If Destroyed” is now available from Finishing Line Press or by contacting him at jgagenow@gmail.com.

Aaron Marcus (piano, concertina, banjo, foot percussion, vocals) draws on a rich background of musical traditions including New England contra, classical piano, English country dance, West African, and old time. Aaron is well known throughout the Northeast for his performances with Giant Robot Dance, Gift of the Marcii, Frost and Fire, and The Turning Stile. In his non-musical life, he works as an endangered-species biologist.

Gary Margolis is the author of four books of poems. His poems speak from the heart of New England and our nation and speak across cultures. They’re characterized by thoughtful emotion, humor, curiosity and surprise. He is the Executive Director Emeritus of College Mental Health Services at Middlebury College where he was also a part-time Associate Professor of English and American Literatures. He is a recipient of Vermont Arts Council and Millay Colony Awards and a Robert Frost Fellow at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. His poems and essays have appeared in Poetry, American Scholar, Poetry Northwest, and the Journal of the American College Health Association.

Lizzy Mandell is a Vermont singer/songwriter. Her album debut, Made for Flying, showcases eleven original songs. Lizzy’s soulful voice and compelling lyrics and melodies take the listener on a ride through the American landscape – through mountain farms, desert towns, to ocean shores, and home again.

Dorothy Robson is a founder of the White River Valley Players. The Hancock musician has composed and performed music for a number of WRVP Productions, including The Cherry Orchard, Second Chance, and most recently, Ransom, which was performed at Chandler in November 2014.

Gwyneth Walker’s music has been widely performed throughout the country and is beloved by performers and audiences alike for its energy, beauty, reverence, drama, and humor. Dr. Gwyneth Walker is a graduate of Brown University and the Hartt School of Music. She holds B.A., M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in Music Composition. A former faculty member of the Oberlin College Conservatory, she resigned from academic employment in 1982 in order to pursue a career as a full-time composer. For nearly 30 years, she lived on a dairy farm in Braintree. She now divides her time between her childhood hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut and the musical communities of Sarasota, Florida and Randolph, Vermont. Walker’s catalogue includes over 300 commissioned works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, and solo voice. A special interest has been dramatic works that combine music with readings, acting, and movement.

Chloe Viner has been writing poetry for fifteen years. Her first book of poetry “Naked Under an Umbrella” was published by Finishing Line press in 2011. Her second book of poetry, “What the Rain Said Last Night” was published in 2015 by Future Cycle Press. Her third book of poetry, “27 Apples” is forthcoming this July. Chloe lives in a large farmhouse in rural Vermont with her husband, cat, dog and a flock of hens. Chloe works as the Panel Manager at Franklin Grand Isle Restorative Justice Center and spends her spare time reading and hiking.

PoemTown 2016 Thanks!

A heartfelt thank-you to Randolph’s downtown merchants and organizations that so generously supported PoemTown 2016 through their willingness to display poems in windows and host events. We offer special thanks to Kimball Library, The Three Bean Café, Black Krim, and One Main for hosting events during the month.

Thank you to Vermont’s Poet Laureate Chard deNiord, composer Gwyneth Walker, Middlebury poet Gary Margolis, and Central Vermont poets Jamie Gage, Ina Anderson, Dick Drysdale, Pamela Ahlen, and Chloe Viner, and singer/songwriter Lizzy Mandell for their creative contributions. PoetryPlus featuring Bethel poet Danny Dover and pianists Dorothy Robson and Aaron Marcus was a sublime end to the month.

And not to be forgotten are the 62 poets of all ages that represented 33 towns throughout Vermont. We couldn’t have done this without their creativity.

We look forward to PoemTown Randolph 2017!