Poem Town Randolph 2023 Events

Our 10th Anniversary!

Saturday April 1, 7 pm    Farmer Poets’ Night 

Silloway Sugarhouse, Randolph Center
Readings by poets Taylor Mardis Katz and Corey D. Cook
Silloway maple desserts available!

TAYLOR  MARDIS KATZ

Taylor Mardis Katz is a poet, farmer, and shopkeeper living in Chelsea, Vermont. With her partner, she runs Free Verse Farm & Apothecary and the Free Verse Farm Shop, and parents one small and fantastic human. Taylor’s poems have appeared in a variety of traditional and non-traditional publications, including a farmer’s almanac, the podcast “Brave Little State,” and The Connecticut Review, Barnstorm, and the Adirondack Review

COREY D. COOK

Corey D. Cook’s sixth collection of poems, Junk Drawer, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2022. His poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Black Poppy Review, Boston Literary Magazine, Duck Head Journal, Freshwater Literary Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, Naugatuck River Review, Nixes Mate Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, and Spare Change News. Corey edits Red Eft ReviewHe lives in East Thetford, Vermont.

Thursday, April 6, 7pm   Two Local Poets 

Kimball Library, Randolph
Readings by Marjorie Ryerson and Laura Foley

LAURA FOLEY  has published several poetry collections, the most recent being Everything We Need: Poems from El Camino. A new collection, It’s This, is due out in May 2023.  Laura’s poems have won numerous awards, and national recognition, read frequently on The Writers Almanac, and appearing in Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry. Her work has been published in journals such as Alaska Quarterly Review, Valparaiso, Poetry Society London, and in anthologies such as Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection, and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope.  Laura lives with her wife, Clara Gimenez, and their romping canines, among the hills of Pomfret,Vermont. 

MARJORIE RYERSON has a graduate degree in poetry from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa.  She served for many years as a professor of writing and photography at Castleton State College. She also taught poetry for Middlebury College at its New England Young Writers Conference, and most recently for Dartmouth College in a class where poetry focused on climate change.  She served as a First Wednesdays’ lecturer for the Vermont Humanities Council, with a focus on her book Companions for the Passage: Stories of the Intimate Privilege of Accompanying the Dying.   Marjorie’s 2003 art photography book Water Music won national and international recognition.  Her Water Music Project (www.water-music.org)  donated substantial funds to the United Nations, used to protect the health of water and the availability of safe drinking water around the world. Most recently, Marjorie served as a Vermont State Representative.. She lives in Randolph, Vermont.

Tuesday, April 11, 7pm     Vermont Poet Carol Potter

Esther Mesh Room at Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph
Listen to Carol Potter read her poems while enjoying scrumptious desserts!

CAROL POTTER  was the winner of the 2021 Pacific Coast Series of Poetry from Beyond Baroque Books for her sixth book of poems, What Happens Next is Anyone’s Guess. Her awards include the 2014 Field Poetry Prize from Oberlin College Press for Some Slow Bees, a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, 2019, the 1998 Cleveland State Poetry Center award, and the Balcones Award for her book, The Short History of Pets.  She won a Pushcart Award and residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, The Fundacion Valparaiso and Millay Colony of the Arts. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, The Green Mountains Review, Hotel Amerika, Sinister Wisdom, The Kenyon Review, Hayden’s Ferry, The Massachusetts Review,  The Los Angeles Review, Poet Lore,  River Styx, Plume, and the anthology of contemporary Vermont poetry, Roads Taken.  She teaches for CCV and the Antioch University MFA program in Los Angeles, and is a freelance poetry editor and consultant.

Wednesday, April 19, 7pm    Poetry Open Mic

White River Craft Center, 50 Randolph Ave, Randolph
Come share your poems!  Sign up at the door!
Or just come and enjoy listening.

Saturday, April 29, 7pm      Los Lorcas

The Underground, 24 Pleasant St., Randolph

Celebrating their new release Last Night in America, poets Partridge Boswell and Peter Money, along with guitarist Nat Williams, fuse poetry and music in a passionate and surprising mash-up. Los Lorcas blur boundaries between spoken word and song, weaving poetry with Andalusian ballads, blues, rock, folk, reggae, hip hop, Americana and jazz in pursuit of the cante jondo (deep song) Federico Garcia Lorca so ardently championed.

Troubadouring widely in the US and abroad (Ireland, Canada and Slovenia), Los Lorcas have performed everywhere from farmhouse kitchens to pubs, coffeehouses, schools, theaters and 1,000+ book festival crowds [e.g. Poetry Center San Jose, Massachusetts Poetry Festival, New Orleans Poetry Festival, Burlington Book Festival, Tucson Book Festival, Bookstock Literary Festival (w/ Robert Pinsky’s PoemJazz), Chandler Music Hall, Fingal and Kinsale Literary Festivals (Ireland), Vermont College of Fine Arts, KGB Reading Series, Bowery Poetry Club, Nuyorican Poetry Café and Caffe Lena], attesting to the broad appeal of their lyrical tapestries and innovative vision of how poetry and music are two sides of the same spinning coin and together can attain a mesmerizing symbiosis.  https://loslorcas.com/

“Los Lorcas in unity is a marvel that would silence any creative individual to awe, inspiring the quietest observer to reach for each word as if they were Federico Lorca himself, meditating on song and poetry mid-stage, arms outstretched.”—Bianca Viñas

All events are free of charge.

PoemTown Placement Guide 2023

2023 PoemTown Poem Locations

Randolph Village Laundromat
Darkness – Sandy Edmonds
Downstairs Apartment – Nancy Hewitt
Thank you for your service – Ina Anderson
Vernal Hues – Wilma Ann Johnson

Chandler Center for the Arts
Porch Harp – Peter Thompson
On Hearing a Harp – Janet Watton

Kimball Public Library
Knowledge – Sam Hewitt

Randolph House
Warm furniture – Lava Mueller
Eighth Great grandmother – M. Underwood

SuperSuds Laundromat
Cottage commandments – Peggy Brightman
In Answer to Question Two – Betsy Unger
The Commute – Wilma Ann Johnson

Gear House
On the White River – Bruce Coffin

Wee Bird Bagel Café
Writer’s Manual – N.G. Haiduck
Aaah, The Taste of a Maple Smoothie – Laurie Rosen

The White River Valley Herald
Decades Haikus – Christina Strong

Fisher Auto Parts
Big Green Truck – Timothy Eberhardt
Memorial Day – Beverly Breen
Elegant Demise – Andrea Rogers
Pentimento – Peggy Brightman
When I Hear the News – J.Jodan Dann
Winter – Abbie Messier
With Eyes Open – Sarah Dickenson Snyder
At the New Jersey Shore with Psalm 139 – Jeanne Ward

Tacocat Cantina
Love Song – Leanne Hoppe

Root Floral
It’s April and I’ve No Desire to Plant Pansies – Laurie Rosen
Covert – Cynthia Liepmann

Vermont Computing
History is Patient – Christina Strong
Sonnet Pro Patria – Nietzsche Danann Egelanaard

Red Door Jewelers
Mending – Betsy Unger

Kuya’s at One Main
A Simple Gesture – Andrea Rogers
Perspective – N. G. Haiduck
Spaces – Sue Alenick
Wild Atlantic Way – Danny Dover

Windy Lane Bakehouse
For James Baldwin – Gina Logan
Grilled corn – Jeff Bernstein
Winged messengers in no particular hurry – Jeff Bernstein
The Blue Satchel – Barbara Stearns

Third Branch Pottery
Hunter Gatherer – Pamela Ahlen
War Town Villanelle – Krikmöklet Egelanaard

Bar Harbor Bank and Trust
Christmas Photographs – Sandra Maccarrone
A Time To Reckon – Jo Bower
Pond Song – Janet Watton
It’s complicated – Gus Speth
The Grands – Deb Franzoni
I Am Poor – Krikmöklet Egelanaard

Frankenburg Agency
Inheritance – J. Jordan Dann

Ken’s Barbershop
The Duke – Sandra Stillman Gartner

Dubois and King
The Lesson – Deb Franzoni
Shadow – Phil Montenegro
To My Masseuse – Marjorie Ryerson
Holding the Weather Hostage – Kiev Rattee

Moon on Main
At the Summit of Nebraska Notch – Julie Cadwallader Staub

Northfield Savings Bank
East Woods Reverie – Bobbe Pennington
Learning – Sarah Dickenson Snyder
Hope and the Lengthening Light – Ramsey Papp
Sky Furniture – Ina Anderson
Seneca Falls – Ren Dillon

Wilson Tire
Lauds – Judy Crocker

Randolph Coal and Oil
(re)making Memory: fossil hunt, isle la mott – Anne Bergeron

Bob’s M and M
Hometown – Douglas K. Currier

Chefs Market
Apostrophe – Ren Dillon
Up – Rose Loving

NAPA
Storm Coming – Julie Cadwallader Staub
Vermont Neighbors – V Charleigh Robillard
Life, the Great Clinical Trial – Cynthia Liepmann
Perch Staff Identity – George Murphy
The Prayer – Gus Speth
The Bartering Game – Stephen Morris

Heritage Real Estate
Making Do in Maine – Nancy Hewitt

802 Pizza
The Pebble – Rose Loving
Mannequin – Phil Montenegro
Sentences You Began Years Ago – Kim Ward

The Playhouse
Autumn Reveal – Jo Bower
Everything I Need – Micki Colbeck
Snowy Day – Ann Cooper
The Tracks in This Morning’s Snow – Gina Logan

Beacon Printing
Moonrise. – Thelma Thompson

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital
Morning Greeting – Becky McMeekin
Farther Away – Ruby Cassidy
Mouse – Clifford Giffen
Oblivious – Steven Augustus
Pendulum – Hugo Liepmann

Forest Walk
In a Cabin in the Woods – Thelma Thompson
What Brooks Do – Jessie Martin
In the Garden – Licorice Finn
In the Air – JC Wayne
Ticks – Micki Colbeck
Ode Upon a Milkweed Pod – Carl Garguilo (C.)
Wanderers – Deven Valliere
Forecast – Beverly Breen

Whale Dance
Whale-wake – Deven Valliere

Poem Town Randolph 2023: Call for Submissions

Submissions are now closed for 2023

April is National Poetry Month and Poem Town Randolph is preparing to celebrate its 10th Anniversary! The Poem Town team is now soliciting original poetry submissions to be considered for publication on broadsides to be posted in windows on the streets of Randolph and along the river trail during the month of April 2023, and in the 10th Anniversary print anthology, Poem Town Randolph 2023.

Instructions for Submission:
Please follow these instructions carefully. Failure to abide by these instructions may result in automatic rejection of poems.

  • The deadline for submission is February 15, 2023.
  • Poem Town accepts submissions from poets of any age residing anywhere in Vermont.
  • One or two poems may be submitted, each poem no longer than 24 lines.
  • Type the name of the poet and town of residence at the bottom of each poem. (This information is not shared with the judges of the poems, but is helpful when the chosen poems are submitted to the designer who prepares the broadsides and the published anthology.)
  • Poems should be submitted by email to musbird@gmail.com with Poem Town 2023 in the subject line. In this email, attach each poem as a separate document, MS Word or rtf. The title of each poem should be each document’s name. No pdfs, please!
  • In the text of the email, include the poet’s contact information: name, mailing address, email address, and telephone number.
  • Do not submit poems that have previously been published elsewhere in print or online.
  • Do not submit poems that have previously been displayed in any PoemTown or PoemCity celebrations.
  • Poets without access to email should contact Janet Watton at 802-728-9402 by February 10, 2023 to request an alternate submission process.
  • Accepted poems will automatically be published in the Poem Town 2023 anthology. Poets who do not wish to have their poems published in the anthology must state this exemption in their submission email.
  • By sending work to PoemTown Randolph 2022, poets agree that PoemTown may use any poem in display, in promotional materials, and in associated online, print and other media. Poets will be credited for their work in all places their poems appear.

Poem Placement Guide 2022

RANDOLPH VILLAGE LAUNDROMAT

A Bitter New Litter – Charlie Farrell
Ode to the Nude Study – Nancy Hewitt

CHANDLER

Last Pew on the Left – Timothy Eberhardt
Apple Tree – N.G. Haiduck

KIMBALL LIBRARY  

Poet in Covid – Ina Anderson
Dawning – Debby Franzoni

RANDOLPH HOUSE

Senior Citizens – Clifford Giffin
Clearing the Way – Barbara Stearns

SUPER SUDS

Wedding Barn in Winter – Becky McMeekin
Centrifuging Grief – Kim Ward
Wren – Micki Colbeck

THE HERALD

Spring Poem in Lieu of fascism circa pick a year – Christina Strong
Memory – N.G. Haiduck
Ghazal – Leanne Hoppe

RED DOOR

Little Red Squirrel – Corinne Davis
Treasuring – Beverly Breen

KIDSPLAY

No Horns – Neil Lamson
If You Are Not Careful – Debby Franzoni

TRILLIUM BUILDING 

Jammin’ – Jon Kaplan
Hairy Legs – Jeff Bernstein

VERMONT COMPUTING

Virtually – Jon Kaplan
Glimpses – Thelma Thompson

WIT AND GRIT

It’s Time – Don Herzberg

TACOCAT CANTINA

If you Look the Right Way – Andrea Rogers

SIDEWALK FLORIST 

Seasoned – Sarah Dickenson Snyder
Rose Tanka – Wilma Ann Johnson

BLACK MEADOW GALLERY

The Job of the Artist – Peggy Brightman

FISHER AUTO PARTS

At Summer’s End a Brook Flows – Laurie Rosen
The Keepers – Joyce Thomas
Midnight New Year’s Day – Gina Logan
When Dogs Won’t Come – Micki Colbeck
Wild Canaries – Judy Crocker
Consider the Rogues – Linette Mermager
Leaving to Stay – Sarah Dickenson Snyder

ONE MAIN TAP AND GRILL

at solstice’s door – C. Westminster
Bless Esso – Phil Montenegro
apology – Nancy Hewitt
HenhouseRide – Neil Lamson

KUYAS SANDWICHES + KITCHEN

Cage Free – Ina Anderson

BELMAINS

The Bell – Cynthia Liepmann
The Painting is a Fake – Beverly Breen
Crooked Gravity – Danny Dover
Flying (a triplet of haiku) – Jon Kaplan
Some Place Else – Sarah Dickenson Snyder
Room – Phil Montenegro
Making Ready for August – Jeff Bernstein
Calling – Julie Cadwallader Staub

BAR HARBOR BANK AND TRUST  

Hope Chest – Joyce Thomas
Chain – Danny Dover
Addison County Fair – Julie Cadwallader Staub
Spring – Jack Rossi
American Sonnet 15 – Steven Augustus
Tolerance – Peggy Rose Whiteneck
Winter Torpor – Linette Wermager
Berries – Mark Helijas

KEN’S BARBERSHOP

2 jan 2022 – Heather S.J. Steliga

FRANKENBURG AGENCY

contemporary tanka – Wilma Ann Johnson

​GEAR HOUSE   

Snow Falls in November – JC Wayne                   

DUBOIS & KING 

Snowsteps – Janet Watton
August Sunset, East of Belmont – Steven Haywood Yaskell
Ancient Road – Danny Dover
To Otto Kucera – Peter Thompson

MOON ON MAIN

my brown dirt road – Pamela Ahlen

NORTHFIELD SAVINGS BANK

Life – Tilly M. DalPra
The Naming – Phil Montenegro
The Metaphysics of Bird Feeders – Gina Logan
Last * Patience * Reflecting – George Murphy
Cherry Collection – Darcie Tredwell

WILSON TIRE

Driving in Vermont – N.G. Haiduck

RANDOLPH COAL & OIL

Hopium – Gus Speth
Cold at Night – Don Herzberg

RANDOLPH POLICE STATION

unDer InflUence – Hugo Liepmann
Going Crazy – Gus Speth

BOB’S M&M BEVERAGE

Apologies – Jack Rossi

CHEF’S MARKET

Tomato – Sandy Maccarrone
Does Food Look Better in Color than B&W? Please Discuss – Christina Strong

TRI-VALLEY TRANSIT

February Breezes – Emerson Gale

NAPA AUTO PARTS

Ode to Crabgrass – Ann Bower
Sadie Parts the Chickens – Betsy Unger
I Think She’s Hiding Something – Mark Helijas
Mother’s Revenge – Mark Helijas
American Sonnet 13 – Steve n Augustus
The Weight of Winter – Linette Wermager

THE PLAYHOUSE

On the Fells in Rain –  Walt Garner
Pandemic Holiday – Joan Mathews
Luminescent – Cynthia Liepmann
At the Movies With Ann and Bob – Becky McMeekin

BEACON PRINTING 

Mrs. Miller – Sandy Edmonds
Sister Beams – Ann Bower

HERITAGE REAL ESTATE

Domus Rusticus – Timothy Eberhardt

802 PIZZA

September Bees – Mel Goertz
Shower Singing – Judy Crocker
Storm Warning – Joyce Thomas
Awakening Haiku – Laurie Rose n

RANDOLPH REG. VET HOSPITAL 

They’re all Emotional Support Animals – Jeff Bernstein
Talking to Animals – Peggy Rose Whiteneck
American Sonnet 5 – Steven Augustus
Priorities – Janet Watton

CENTRAL SUPPLIES

Anthropocene – Ina Anderson

FOREST WALK  

On Hearing a Brown Thrasher – Janet Watton
Crescendo of Caws – Andrea Rogers
Summer Snapshot – Debby Franzoni
After Imbolc – Anne Bergeron
Seasonal Quartet – JC Wayne
Common Merganser – Jack Rossi
Tracks in the Snow – Thelma Thompson
The Promised Land – Herbert Goertz
The Blue Jay – Cora Dunne

WHALE DANCE

The Perseids – Thelma Thompson​                                                                

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

Celebrate National Poetry Month with PoemTown Randolph 2020!

Due to the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, things are a bit different this year. With statewide and national closures of schools, arts organizations, businesses and public places, and warnings to be mindful of social distancing, we have made the prudent decision to cancel all PoemTown events for this year.

However, like the geese and robins, poetry will return to Randolph! The original poems of 76 poets from 46 Vermont towns are on display in the main windows and doors of local businesses and organizations as a walking anthology for residents and visitors to enjoy as they walk through town, hike a short nature trail along the White River, or do errands in town. New this year is the pairing of some of Randolph’s notable outdoor sculptures with poetry that was submitted. Poets were encouraged to submit poems that consider our climate emergency.

We hope that these poems help offset the difficulty of these uncertain times and remind us of the many ways we are connected through common experience. The daily pressures and hectic pace of our lives, and the onslaught of technology all threaten to isolate and overwhelm us. Poetry is a vehicle for articulating our common human experience and the many threads that bind us together as human beings. Who among us has not been shaken by love and loss, has not been moved by beauty in the natural world, yearned for change, or been challenged by a situation beyond his or her control? Through poetry we celebrate our unity through our individual stories and insight. May the days ahead be filled with poetry to sustain us all.

Thank you to our supporters! 

We’re grateful for generous sponsorship support that makes possible our ability to print the poems and programs and design and print this year’s anthology.

PoemTown 2020 is underwritten by the the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation and has additional support from DuBois & King, EyeCare for You, Northfield Savings Bank, Sanel/NAPA Auto Parts, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, andthe Ada Brandon Foundation. PoemTown is grateful for partnerships with the Town of Randolph, RACDC, Chandler Center for the Arts, Kimball Library, and the White River Craft Center that helped make possible the planning of this year’s events. 

We’re grateful for generous sponsorship support that makes possible our ability to offer the poetry portions of all events at no cost to the public.

PoemTown 2020 is underwritten by the the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation and has additional support from DuBois & King, EyeCare for You, Northfield Savings Bank, Sanel/NAPA Auto Parts, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, and the Ada Brandon Foundation. PoemTown is grateful for partnerships with the Town of Randolph, RACDC, Chandler Center for the Arts, Kimball Library, and the White River Craft Center that help make possible these events.

Find the Poems

More than 100 poems are placed throughout Randolph Village. Here’s a complete listing of their locations. This year many of Randolph’s sculptures are included in the Poetry Walk.

Sculptures

The Gift” by Karen Petersen in front of Chandler Music Hall

Gathering — Louis Megyesi

Paul Calter sculptures at Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center

Focus One”from Simultaneous — Jim Schley

Armillary VII” — Ode to the Tree Across the Road — Genevieve Bronk

Sun Disc, Moon Disc” — Sun, O Glorious Sun — Neill Callahan

Big Frog, Small Pond” by Jim Sardonis, VT Agricultural and Environmental Lab at VTC

Charles’s Pond — Louis Megyesi

“Whale Dance” by Jim Sardonis at Exit 4, I-89

Eternal Dance — Peggy Brightman

River Walk

Still Leaf — Jonathan Root

Winter — Michael Fitzgerald

Source: Haiku — M. Underwood

Milkweed — James Crews

Questions — Ann Cooper

Waiting on the Ice Jam — Daniel Chadwick

Metamorphose — Deb Delmore

Ladybugs — George Longenecker

Randolph Village Laundromat75 North Main Street

Flowerless — Ann Brandon

The Church of Laundromat — Stephen Morris

Chandler Music Hall 71-73 North Main Street

Ukulele Lesson — Judith Crocker

No Oxygen Left — Trish Alley

Bach Hears Music — Gus Speth

Kimball Public Library67 North Main Street

The Writer in His Element — Gus Speth

Logophile — Judith Crocker

Randolph House65 North Main Street

The Moon Dances Down Pug Lake — Sydney Lea

Anticipation — M. Underwood

Super Suds Laundromat10 Pleasant Street

Colored Glass — Steve Augustus

Act as if …. — Phoenix

Seeds of Despair — Carl Garguilo

The Gear House16 Pleasant Street

Afterlife — Jack Mayer

Huggable Mug Café22 Pleasant Street

Carbon Footprint Cafe — Donna Bramley

Feeding Time — Timothy Eberhardt

Kids Play 22 Pleasant Street

Little Zephyrs — Deb Franzoni

about a boy — Nancy Hewitt

Trillium24 Pleasant Street

Mother’s Day — Wilma Ann Johnson

What the Birder Said — Veer Frost

The Herald30 Pleasant Street

Poetry in an Eggshell — Audrey Boerum

The Lost Poem — Jeff Bernstein

Ode to Ocean — Cynthia Liepmann

Red Lion Inn  — 9 Pleasant Street

At 89 — Audrey Boerum

Morning at the Drop-in Center — Barbara Stearns

Red Door Jewelers — 20 Merchants Row

Love and Imagination — Kimberly Madura

Soft Light Appearing — Janet Burnham

Fisher Auto Parts10 Merchants Row

The Wind from the Next World — Gina Logan

Car Wash — Annie Bower

Cassandra — Ann Cooper

Pollination — Geza Tatrallyay

After the Flood — Rebecca Starks

Willamina Willy — Tom Martin

Ice — Veer Frost

Ode to ‘e’— Barney Beard

One Blood Paragraph — Nancy Hewitt 

Self-Medication — Sandy Edmunds 

a broken heart has no home — Mary Collins 

Earth Mother — Peggy Brightman 

The Singin’ Rage — Sydney Lea 

Vermont Computing 23 Merchants Row

Dead End — Julie Cadwallader Staub

Bluer Seas — Annie Bower

The Black Krim Tavern 21 Merchants Row

Our Notions of Love — Christina Strong

Sidewalk Florist19 Merchants Row

Dahlias — Andrea Rogers

The Peony Admiration Club — Letitia Rydjeski

One Main Tap & Grill2 Merchants Row

August 27, 2019 — Julie Cadwallader Staub

Boppin’ at Lunacy — Pam Ahlen

There and Here — Judith Crocker

Belmain’s Building — 15 North Main Street

The Open Field — James Crews

False Labor — Jack Mayer

Clouds — Ina Anderson

Bee-ing Indoors — Gina Logan

Twenty Years — Charleigh Robillard

November 8, 2017 — Ann Cooper

Scorched Earth — Janet Watton

Nativity Scene — Peggy Whiteneck

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 21 North Main Street

Out of Control — Janet Watton

So You Think — Michael J. Farrand

Saecula saeculorum — Timothy Eberhardt

First Chill — Deb Delmore

To My Great Granddaughter Not Yet Born — Ina Anderson

On Seeing Satellite Images After Hurricane Dorian — Rebecca Starks

From Stone Road — George Murphy

Ken’s Barbershop33 North Main Street

Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 2005 — Jamie Gage

The Frankenburg Agency35 North Main Street

Orbweaver — James Crews

Bethany Church Office32 North Main Street

The Book of Job — Peggy Whiteneck

Migration — Wilma Ann Johnson

Noah and the Climate Skeptics — Brigitte Lent

DuBois & King28 North Main Street

Teach Me To Whisper — Deb Chadwick

I’m gonna write my dream — David Wrong

Lamentation — Rebecca McMeekin

Rain Change — James Wyman

Blue Moon6 North Main Street

There are Words in this Wind — Julie Longstreth

Assumptions and Cullings — Sydney Lea

Northfield Savings Bank2 North Main Street

Giant Sequoia — Rebecca McMeekin

Boogaloo to Beck — Jamie Gage

A Tiny Patch of Blue — Trish Alley

The Olde Hollows Transfer Station — Steve Augustus

November — Anne Bakeman

Coffin — Danny Dover

East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street

Bahn Mi in Vermont — Christina Strong

Wilson Tire – 5 Salisbury Street

Poem for the Leavers — Jillian Getman

Randolph Municipal Building7 Summer Street

Town Meeting — Rebecca McMeekin

America. America — Audrey Boerum

Tranquility — Mickie Richardson

Of Revolution — David Celone

Randolph Coal & Oil8 Salisbury Street

There are too many of us on this earth … — Geza Tatrallyay

The New Normal — Charlie Farrell

Randolph Police Station6 Salisbury Street

Airborne — Corinne Davis

Bob’s M&M Beverage4 Salisbury Street

Polar Cap — Melanie Adams

Chef’s Market 2 Salisbury Street 

Should — Deb Delmore

Until, that is, I Become Vinegar — Stephen Morris

StagecoachDepot Square

Thomas Edison Lands in the 21st Century — Jeff Bernstein

True Center Yoga 2 South Main Street

A Place Beyond — Gus Speth

TEKHENU — Janet Watton

lotus — Mary Collins

The Split Is Clear — Cynthia Liepmann

Sanel / NAPA 3 South Main Street 

Willing — Nancy Hewitt

No Restraint — Deb Franzoni

after reading how the wollemi pines were saved by firefighters in Australia — Anne Bergeron

Climate Changes, Writ Small — Jeff Bernstein

World Atlas — Christina Strong

Heritage Real Estate 10 South Main Street

Indecision Equals Inaction — Sandy Edmonds

The Playhouse11 South Main Street

The Souks of Aleppo — Brigitte Lent

To The Horse’s Return — Steven Yaskell

Beacon Printing 18 South Main Street

Three of Us — Peter Dregallo

Any flip of the hand …. — Annie Bower

Al’s Pizza12 South Main Street

The Universe is — Peggy Brightman

Heron Dancer — Karen Richardson

Hummingbird — Hatsy McGraw

It was Hidden in the Statue — Daniel Chadwick

Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital86 Dylan Drive

Flagler, our Weatherman — Bonnie Watters

Ode to Leofred L’Orange — Ina Anderson

My Indoor Cat — Jack MayerBuckie — Lynn Powers

2019 Poem Locations

Local artist Jan Fowler

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 Laundromat75 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 Library67 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 House65 North Main Street
Bonnie Beck — My Dad’s Handkerchief
Nancy Vandenburgh — Step Out

Super Suds Laundromat10 Pleasant Street
Peter Dregallo — Filling Voids
Becky Farmer — Quandary
Wilma Ann Johnson — Oh, what a morning!

Green Light Café22 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 …

Trillium24 Pleasant Street
Anne Bower — For my Tai Chi colleagues
Cynthia Liepmann — Half Mast

The Herald30 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 Florist19 Merchants Row
Yvonne Daly — Spring Vigil
Michelle Holder — February

The Red Door20 Merchants Row
Genevieve Bronk — Lavender
Tom Martin — coincidence

Flats Tatooing of Vermont18 Merchants Row
Brook Herter James — Route 90 Westbound

Fisher Auto Parts10 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 & Grill2 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 Barbershop33 North Main Street
Gina Logan — The Tracks in this Morning’s Snow

The Frankenburg Agency35 North Main Street
Deb Chadwick — Peaceful

Bethany Church Office29 North Main Street
James Barrett — Rachel
Lindy Sayward — Saving Earth
Jim Schley — Dumbstruck

DuBois & King28 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 Moon6 North Main Street
Ina Anderson — My Mother’s Purse
Nancy Hewitt — Chanel No. 5

Northfield Savings Bank2 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 Building7 Summer Street
Genevieve Bronk — The Coach
Doreen Guillette — Wisdom of a Maple Tree
Janet Hayward Burnham — Over the Top
Sandra Maccarrone — February

Randolph Coal & Oil8 Salisbury Street
Jack Mayer — BLOOD — House-call on the Canadian border
Verandah Porche — So Long, L. Cohen

Randolph Police Station6 Salisbury Street
Roderick Bates — The Art of the Relationship

Bob’s M&M Beverage4 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

StagecoachDepot Square
Yvonne Daly — Travelling

NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply3 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 Playhouse11 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 Pizza12 South Main Street
Lukina Andreyev — And I Lost Me
Audrey Boerum — I Declare My Coronation
Carl Garguilo — Angels
Shannon Trigos — Warm Innocence

Former Verizon Buildingcorner 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 Hospital86 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