Before National Poetry Month concludes, let’s meet a few Franklin County poets.
“Poetry is a way to channel something larger than myself,” said Susie Patlove, a homesteader who lives on Windy Hill, near Shelburne Falls. “It gives me insight into life’s issues and struggles.”
In addition to facilitating a poetry group, Patlove is working on a book about her late husband’s dementia-related illness. Patlove has one published chapbook. “The publishing world is complicated,” she said. “I’d love to share more of my work in that way, but I can’t stand the tasks related to trying to get it out there.”
For Jody Stewart, an inability to draw led her to write poetry. “I devote my artistic energy to writing,” said the Hawley resident. Calling herself an “accidental poet,” Stewart said that, although she’s easily distracted, she can give poetry her attention. “I lose myself in it.”
Years ago, a Guggenheim fellowship enabled Stewart to live in Cornwall, on the southwestern tip of England. “It was when women writers were just beginning to surface,” she said. “Up until then, almost all the writers and editors featured in literary magazines were men. When it opened up, I caught a wave. Things came alive: poetry was in the air, on the table, in conversations. It felt sustaining, and poets felt like family members.”
Through experiences including breast cancer, living without electricity or running water, and running Tregellys Fiber Farm, Stewart has continued to write poetry. She and poet Lauren Schmidt will give readings at Mocha Maya’s in Shelburne Falls on May 14.
Submitted photo
For some poets, the craft weaves into their professional life. Abbot Cutler taught college-level writing and literature for 40 years. He studied with Galway Kinnell, regularly attended a poetry seminar organized by Robert Bly, and became close friends with Coleman Barks, whose funeral Cutler recently attended in Georgia. “Poetry is the only thing I know how to do well, so I keep doing it,” said Cutler, who began writing poetry while serving in the Peace Corps on the island of Borneo. “I got into reading and writing poetry while on Borneo, when everything felt new and exciting. Poetry was a way for me to understand what was going on. It’s a big part of my life.” The longtime resident of Ashfield and Shelburne Falls enjoys giving public readings and “would be happy to give more.”
Susannah Lee discovered as a child that writing poetry helped make sense of life. “I had terrible times in school, and was the youngest of four girls in a complicated, noisy household,” she said.
Lee began her career in her early 20s as the managing editor of a literary magazine. “I was responsible for reading unsolicited poetry and winnowing the pile for the magazine’s editors. It felt overwhelming!” Later, she found the time and space to write her own poetry, which helps her “express the complexity of what’s going on with our planet.”
Lee’s book, “Wintering Over,” was inspired by the true story of Carmelite nuns who sailed from Iceland to the Arctic Circle in 1994 to establish a monastery in Norway. The nuns’ fortitude led Lee to write poetry to “travel through this idea of darkness, solitude, and bitter cold, and finding the warmth of community to survive.” Lee traveled to the Arctic Circle herself on “an amazing residency” that brought her to the Svalbard Archipelago, 400 miles from the North Pole, the Earth’s northernmost point of land. “That amazing, lifechanging experience brought me closer to my interests in darkness, mysticism and contemplation,” said Lee.
Shutesbury resident Janet MacFadyen has four published chapbooks, as well as four full-length books. She’s the managing editor for Slate Roof Press, a local outfit that produces high-quality work. MacFadyen belongs to a longtime poetry critique group that’s “not gentle,” like some groups. “We’re fairly ruthless. But we’re very supportive of each other’s work,” she said. Most of her chapbooks resulted “from travel and family experiences.” MacFadyen will read from her work on May 5 at the Shutesbury Library, sharing the evening with Wendell resident Mara Bright, starting at 6 p.m.
Paula Sayword began writing as a teen, “but I didn’t take myself seriously until after I retired,” she said. “Poetry was always in my blood.” The Hatfield resident prioritizes making her poetry accessible: “I don’t want people to scratch their heads and wonder what I’m trying to say. I want people to enter my work, understand it and feel it. I can’t stand poems you have to work so hard to understand. I feel it’s important not to be too intellectual or oblique.”
For 30 years, Sayword lived “atop a hill in Leyden. It was paradise, and that hill was my muse. The natural world is always at the heart of my poetry.” Like the other interviewees, Sayword has a long list of favorite poets. “But if I had to pick a top go-to poet, it would be William Stafford.”
Sayword credits the late Genie Zeiger for helping get her first poem published. Zeiger, who was an inspiration to many locals, tapped Susie Patlove to take up leadership of a longtime poetry group when Zeiger needed to retire due to ill health. Thanks to Patlove, Zeiger, and other mentors, poetry can illuminate our lives before, during and after the month designated for its celebration.
Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope” and a musician, artist and mom. To contact her, email eveline@amandlachorus.org.