From Memorial Day weekend, through mid-June, the Stewardship Education Alliance (S.E.A.) presented Poetry on Windows. Poetry about the environment by students  in  Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville, and Rockland graced store windows in Camden, Lincolnville, and Rockport. As Wendell Berry writes, “It all turns on affection,” which is the core of what Poetry on Windows seeks to foster and embody—the hearts of our children and their love for the land, sea and air that we inhabit.  If we don’t foster affection, we can’t hope for preservation.

Poetry on Windows is truly a community wide endeavor. We have many organizations and individuals to thank for their support. 

Youth Arts, the Bisbee Fund, and Camden National Bank have supported Poetry on Windows since 2020. This year, we were able to bring poet Brian Evans-Jones to hold workshops in four schools. Without their help, this could not have happened.

Our merchants have been generous participants in this community event.  We could not be more impressed with their kindness and generosity or more grateful to them:

Lincolnville Center General Store

Dot's Market

Lincolnville Town Office

3 Bug Farm

Drake Corner Store

Western Auto

Lincolnville Central School library and Walsh Common.

40 Paper

Bagel Cafe

Blue Jay

BOWA

Boynton-McKay

Camden National Bank

Camden Public Library

Camden Town Office

Carver Hill Gallery

Fat Face

First National Bank

House of Logan

Laugh Loud Smile Big

Glendarragh Lavender

Leonard’s Clothing

Leslie Curtis Designs

Long Grain--

Maine Seaside Treasures

Maine Sport Outfitters

Once a Tree

Owl and turtle

Oyster River Winery

Page Gallery

Planet

Ralston Gallery

Rockport Public Library

Small Wonder Gallery

Smiling Cow

Swan Island Company

The Cashmere Goat

Todo Gallery

Wooden Alchemy

Zoot Coffee

Teachers at Camden Rockport Middle School, Lincolnville Central School, Appleton Village School and Hope School have been instrumental in making the event possible. Holly Billings (Appleton), Dawn Emery (Lincolnville), Heather Butler (CRMS) and Jen Thorn (Hope) have long fostered writing poetry in their classrooms with editing pencils and grammar lessons.  This year, Dawn Emery took the lead in launching POW in Lincolnville, as did Charlie Gluck at the Rockport Library.

Our scribes each grabbed a pen and sometimes a ladder and drew the poems on windows. We appreciate every single letter, from flowery to architectural, that showcased the poems in glorious gold and white calligraphy.

Abbie Read

Abe Goodale

Amy Rollins

Cathy Straka

Chris Tofani

Jane Babbitt

Jeff Lewis

Julie Daigle

Keenan Boscoe

Kirsten Surbey

Kisha Marsh

Kris Federle

Maggie Churchill

Maureen Egan

Max Ergas

Meara Cafferata

Morgan Cafferata

Steve Baer

Susan Dorr

Susan Lewis

Wayne Ruesswick

Wendy Zwecker

Zoe Zwecker

Skilled teacher and poet Brian Evans-Jones, beguiled images and emotions from our students in carefully crafted workshops. The results are evident in their poems.

And finally, a deep bow to the poets themselves who spent weeks honing their choices of words and reworking their metaphors. We hope our students understand how impactful their words have been in bringing together our community around stewardship of our natural world.

 

Elphie Owen lives in Camden and represents the Stewardship Education Alliance