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Cape Cod Times Poetry Contest Gives Poets a Chance to Get Published

Cape Cod Times Poetry Contest Gives Poets a Chance to Get Published

The American poet Max Ehrmann wrote in “Desiderata” the words, “Go quietly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

This month’s Cape Cod poets seem to have done just that with their musings on Kevin Palma’s “Perfectly Imperfect”; Helen Matusow-Hayes’ “Taste of the Sea”; Ron Zweig’s “June Evening”; Melanie Gallo’s “Grief” and Anita Raposa’s “Do Not Mind I.”

They take the time to reflect on the joyful and the painful, giving both emotions the space they deserve in a life well lived. It is a wonder how poets give words and form to feelings, allowing the reader to appreciate his or her own life more fully.

These are the winning poems in the Cape Cod Times monthly poetry contest, a service shared with our community. See the instructions below to submit your own poems for consideration by our panel of published poets.

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Kevin Palma grew up in Centerville and graduated from Barnstable High School. He has always had a passion for the impact of words and works tirelessly to make the most of them. He now lives in Marstons Mills with his two children and cooks full time to support his family, while devoting his free time to his craft.

Poetry inspiration: The muse of life speaks through me, not the other way around. My style has been called “transcendent” in the past because of the way the words seem to flow out.

Perfectly imperfect

By Kevin Palma

I’m not looking.

I want the meek and the weak to run ―

Make room for those who are not content with complacency.

I strive daily to face myself,

head up and third eye wide open ―

blinded by a light that is difficult to deal with.

I look into the vast cave that houses my mindset;

catch a glimpse of the shards of darkness I have yet to process.

Such a simple task it seems on the surface: slowly turning my life into a steadfast effort to stay grounded,

Re-seal the cracks in the foundation using sand and sealant.

I spit chiclets,

wipe my muddy forehead as it frowns to refocus

a last ditch effort to get the job done ―

a battle that cannot be won.

The pressure to be perfect is acceptable. But what about the reality?

fallible.

Find peace in the constant effort to achieve something unattainable and control the urge to defeat these demons with ease.

Keep up this patchwork and this persistent focus, while I honestly know that I am perfect,

imperfect.

***

Helen Matusow-Ayres is a retired college administrator living in South Dennis. She is an outdoor enthusiast and is happiest hiking in the woods or paddling one of the Cape’s many waterways. Her interest in poetry began in high school and she wrote throughout college. She began writing poetry again when she retired in 2021.

Inspiration: I swim as a meditation. I wrote “Taste of the Sea” to describe my experience of moving through water.

Taste of the sea

By Helen Matusow-Ayres

Submerged

Salt. on my tongue

Mind. Body. Swinging

in soft waves

Grasp. Smooth wet handfuls

of swirling, cloudy sea foam

Reach. Pull. Breathe

In constant repetition

A moving meditation

Air. moves through it.

Me. Around me

Fuel for my journey

Feet. splash

In synchronicity

Move forward. Forward

With every stroke

inhale. I see the air

Ospreys, seagulls

Keep watch

Energy. courses

by me

I am strong

I live

***

Ron Zweig lives in Woods Hole, near Nobska Light. He initially did research at MBL, followed by a decade at the New Alchemy Institute in Falmouth. He later spent many years working in Asia on water management for UN agencies and the World Bank. His broad interest in the arts began in his youth, and in poetry he was first influenced by Robert Frost.

Poem Inspiration: The evening pinging of June insects as they bump into a nearby window screen always reminds me of early summer. Their attraction to the room’s inner light made me wonder what drove that need. Then I imagined the insects must be searching for the light of dawn, as I began to think of what the next day would bring.

June evening

By Ron Zweig

as dusk fades into the darkness of summer, June insects ping against my screen, wings buzzing with each ping, earnestly seeking the light within

such a determined drive for a goal, but what goal ― perhaps only to escape the uncertainty of the night into an innate optimism, an optimism that arrives with the light of dawn

***Melanie Gallo is a lifelong educator. She lives in West Barnstable with her husband and dog, Justice.

Inspiration for poem: The unbearable pain of losing a child was the inspiration for this poem.

Mourning

By Melanie Gallo

The unbearable pain of loss

lives in every room of this house.

It squats in bins full of beloved toys

recalling the pages of favorite children’s books

hides in boxes of unopened wedding gifts

screaming from the pictures on the wall.

Sometimes

the face of a sock purple and pilled

holds my heart hostage.

Memory

pushes tears to my chin

let me fall to my knees

No more praying.

***

I am a native of Western Massachusetts and Cape Cod. A retired English teacher who writes nonfiction and poetry, I also enjoy teaching at the Springfield Museum School and the Straw Dogs Writing Guild. My previous work includes “My Mother’s Journey,” which chronicles a descent into Alzheimer’s disease, and “The Long Way Home,” which looks back on my childhood in a small town in the 1950s.

Poem Inspiration: This poem is an addition to a series of essays, reflections, and poems I wrote after the loss of my husband, Andrew, in 2022.

Don’t mind the silence

By Anita Raposa

I don’t mind the silence

The ubiquitous rustle of news pages,

The cookie crumbs on the floor by the couch,

“Laura” and “Cinema Paradiso” are currently not on TV.

These sounds of yours are gone.

I don’t mind the silence

From the rustle of the sheets as you caress my arm,

The Chomsky Book You Read But Don’t…

These sounds of yours are gone.

I don’t mind the silence

Because you have peace.

Finally.

And yet it is an eerie silence.

An unfortunate dullness of no sound.

I don’t mind the silence

Because you live in the memory.

How to Submit a Poem to the Cape Cod Times

Here’s how you can send us your work:

Submit one single-spaced poem per month, 35 lines or less.

Poems must not have been previously published (in print or online).

Deadline for submission is August 1, 2024.

Please email your submission to [email protected].

Poems should be free of hate speech and expletives (cursing, vulgarity, obscenity).

Include your contact information in the email: name, address, phone number, and the title of the poem. Then attach the poem in a Word document without the name or other personal information, so that the poem can be judged anonymously.

Poets who have not previously been published in the Cape Cod Times may submit a new poem each month. Poets who have been published in the Cape Cod Times must wait three months before submitting a poem again.