poets.htm

Welcome to the Poet's Corner
A showcase for young poets' work

(These poems were written by area students participating in the SPIN program with help from poet Verandah Porche.)

What is SPIN? | Poetry in Motion | What's the Millenium Project?

What is SPIN?

At the actual Corner, kids from Towle and Newport Middle High School have created these poems with me. My name is Verandah Porche and I am a poet. For the year 2000, I am writing in Newport. My topic is "Work." I bring my lap-top computer, Ms. Piggybank, with me wherever I go, and I ask people to tell me about their jobs, their dreams, and the workplaces along the street I'm studying - Sunapee Street.
These poems were spoken, then written down and revised. Often, a group would gather and the kids would toss out ideas to work into the poem. Sometimes, one kid at a time would speak and a whole poem would come out.

Self Portraits in Newport: SPIN in the Millennium is the name of my project.

Poetry in Motion

Alister Bridge - Michael Boston - Jerrod Charlesbois - Brian Childs - Bryan Couitt - Curtis Dillon - Sawyer Dresser - Bobby Fraser - Meghan Holmes - Jason Kathan - Reuben LaFountaine - Adam and Savannah Smith - Emma-Lyn Stone - Nicki Tyler - Natasha Vuletich

Guild Family Haircuts
for Corine Wright

I wait and read the sports magazines,
while Corine cuts the people's hair.
The shampoo smells like peaches.
I listen to the soft country music
and the buz-z-z-z of the clippers.
The hair falls on the tiles,
and after each cut's done,
she cleans it up with a broom.

Corine says, "Next,"
and I sit in the window chair.
I wear the apron when the hair cut begins.
She puts her fingers on my head
and snip, snip, snips.
I say, "Hold the hair,"
so she doesn't cut my ear.
In the mirror, I see my tiny pieces of hair
twirling to the floor.
In five minutes, she's done
and she says, "Come back soon."
I say, "I'll be there."

Reuben LaFountaine

Turning out Treasures
at New Hampshire Brassworks
for Jane Dearden and Kirt Perry

There are big machines when you walk in the door
and the sheddings of the metal all over the floor.
Kirt stands by the lathe with his goggles and gloves,
transforming brass is the work that he loves.
When he grinds the blade, the metal flies
like fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Made in Guild, sold worldwide,
heirlooms for the future.

Well, Jane is the brain behind the pieces.
She works all the time, and doesn't know what sleep is.
She's dreaming up candlesticks of every kind.
When she claps her hands then the shop dogs mind.
She polishes the lamps until they glitter and glow
like moonlight shining on a field below.

Made in Guild, sold worldwide,
heirlooms for the future.

Rockin' at Coronis'

"Everything (yummy) with everything on it,"
is what you can purchase at Coronis' Market.
Hot Fries, fresh grinders, and orange soda--
There's nothing quite like it in North Dakota.
"Welcome to Coronis'. Can I take your order?"
"Yes, I'd like some gumballs." "That will cost a quarter."
Powerade and Snapple, you can see through the door.
Drop into Coronis' and swallow some more.
"Want the usual? Ham or salami?"
Never mind the money, this one is on me."
Brian asks his customer, "Want lettuce and tomato?"
He can whip up a grinder as fast as a tornado.
While dawn is just perking, his coffee's all dripped.
When Brian's up working, he's ready to rip!
"Often imitated--never duplicated."
No way subway Coronis grinders all the way.
Poets Cornered:
Bryan Couitt, Jason Kathan, Michael Boston, Sawyer Dresser,
Brian Childs, Jerrod Charlebois, Nicki Tyler, Meghan Holmes,
Alister Bridge
2/8/00
Spin in the Millennium

Dream Route
The Eagle Times Flies up Sunapee St.

Mostly I walk up Sunapee St.
with the Sunday papers in my pouch,
before anyone gets up; it's like
5 o'clock in the morning.
It's pretty dark. All the chimney smoke
from the houses makes it warm.
Everyone has their heat on all night.
I wear my leather jacket.
The sun's just about rising.
They give me this little chart
with all the houses on it.
I leave the paper
on their front porch steps.
I usually think about my old job.
I had to carry all these gun shells
for my dad's friend to fill.
He's a real gun fan. He pays
a hundred bucks for five pounds
of shells.   It makes the papers
I'm carrying even lighter
to think about how much heavier
the gun shells were, and I fly
up Sunapee St. with the news.
        Jerrod Charlebois
        2/1/00
        Spin in the Millennium

Ice Fishing with My Dad
When we got to Lake Mascoma,
we dragged the bobhouse out on the ice
with my dad's four wheeler.
My dad pulled the string
and the ice augur started like a chainsaw.
He let me press the throttle while
he held it. It vibrated and drilled
into the ice and made a pile of snow
all around the hole. We set up our tilts
and waited till the flag went up
to show a fish bit the bait.
We got there in the morning,
so we cooked eggs right out on the ice
on a green stove.   I was guarding
my fishing pole, and by the time
my dad got back with the food,
only the sausage was warm.
While I was waiting, I rode the four wheeler
on the ice. I did sharp corners and burned around.
It's fast and fun, and it kind of sounds like a Harley.
My dad said I better not crash because
I didn't have enough money to pay to fix it.
We were fishing for lake trout,
but we didn't even get a bite.
I didn't care. It was still fun.
        Brian Childs
        2/8/00
        Spin in the Millennium
Guess Where
There's big brick building off Sunapee St.
a hundred and one years old,
with staircases on either side,
and lots of neat places to huddle and hide.
From the office, tapping typing keys
click like rain trickling off the roof.
In the aquarium, speedy angelfish compete
in the bubbling water.
Footsteps down the halls thump
like ice breaking from the trees.
When the teachers say, "Shhhush,"
the children get so quiet you could hear
a mouse whisper a secret to them.
In the Art Room, scissors snip paper;
crayons draw rainbows and race cars.
In the Music Room, kids sing
"You've Got the Power."
They clap, and snap their fingers.
In the Library, books full of words and pictures
sleep on the shelves and wait for hands to grab them.
In the Cafeteria, ladies with hairnets spoon corn
and hamburgers onto trays, and kids line up
in alphabetical order to get their food, gobble it,
and gossip about girls' stuff and boys' stuff.
On the awesome playground, kids crawl
through "the love tunnel." They hang upside-down
on the monkey bars, and trust their feet to hold them up.
They can flip like acrobats or crash like jets.
There's a slide, and room to play catch, and swings.
When you pump your legs they feel like wings.
Where can you find a place so cool,
like Richards School?
        Adam Smith & Savannah Smith, Sawyer Dresser, Curtis Dillon, Natasha
Vuletich, Meghan Holmes

Cool Catch

At the baseball field down at Meadow Park,
the Mariners strike out the Red Sox.
I'm center field.
The pitcher throws a curve ball.
Crack! The ball flies up to me
like a lightning flash.
The people in the bleachers shout,
"Catch it or you're going to lose!"
I only listen to my dad
cheering me on. He yells,
"Go get it, Bobby! You can do it!"
cause he's not a shy guy.
(Shy people don't say anything
but, "Yeah," quietly.)
I look up and see
if it's a bird or a ball.
It's white and it has no wings at all,
and it's dropping down
into the palm of my glove.
I call to my right fielder
and center fielder,
"I've got it!"
And the crowd hoots and hollers
like wild banchees.
We've won!
Yeah!
Bobby Fraser
March 30, 2000

At the Carwash

My mom's gray Jeep's all yukky
and muddy. Swwiish! we roll into the carwash.
It feels like tumbling into a black hole.
Big, thick, cut-up rubber strips hang
like octopus tentacles, dangling with suds.
It gets even darker.
It feels like you're in a thunderstorm.
Shhhhooooo! When the hot wind blows,
it's like a Florida hurricane.
You drive out, all dry and clean
and the sunshine makes your car
like a mirror, sparkling brilliantly
like a diamond, fit for a king.
        Bobby Fraser
        2/1/00
        Spin in the Millennium

Fabulous Fifties

It's a drive-in called The Fabulous Fifties
and the fast food gets to you in a few minutes.
Some waiters and waitresses come to your window
they write down your order and away they go.
The fifties songs, they play while you're waiting
for a one scoop vanilla ice cream cone.
"Great Balls of Fire" and "Stagolee,"
Joanie and I hum and sing along.
The Hawaiian punch is red as an apple
and the grilled cheese sandwiches
are yellow like a daffodil.
The Fabulous Fifties is a retro restaurant.
you eat in your car like a diner feast!
                Reuben Fountaine
                with Verandah Porche
River Forest

         Moss like smoothing grass.
        In the brook, a puddle of rocks.
        I hear the singing river
        and the water gurgles.
        Birch bark, like a page
        from a book.
        Ants work underground.
        The anthill, like a circle
        and a fort.
             Reuben LaFountaine

My Dream
When my grandmother died, I told her
someday I would be a doctor
and take care of people who were dying.
If they're running out of life,
I would pray for them, and I'd give them
medicine or a new heart.
I would wear shoes that walk quietly
and green pants and a green shirt
and a green hair tie and a white vest.
If they were having a baby,
I'd tell them if it was a boy or girl.
I already practice CPR on my sister
when she's pretending to choke.
When I was four, my mom gave me
a doctor kit and doll that could cry
and wet its pants. I took it apart
and gave it a shot.
See, I know how to be a doctor.
I don't know how to get be one,
but I will someday.
        Nicki Tyler
        2/8/00
        Spin in the Millennium
Try Universal Physical Therapy
        "Feel Better & Do More"
If you've fallen from your horse or off a cliff,
and your leg is in a cast and it's sore and stiff,
if you lifted up the baby and you've gone KABOOM!
so you're wobbling and limping from room to room,
        At the Ice House Plaza down Sunapee Street,
        Try Universal Physical Therapy.
        Feel Better & Do More!
If your grandmother aches in the lower back,
or your kid's out of whack from carrying a pack,
if you slept all funny or tripped over a bunny,
it will only cost a small percentage of your money.
        If you're feeling beat, down Sunapee Street,
        Try Universal Physical Therapy.
        Feel Better & Do More!
If your foot got stuck in a big brick wall,
you might want to bounce on the therapy ball.
Flex your neck in a pool till it feels like new
so there's no more tears with your next shampoo.
        At the Ice House Plaza down Sunapee Street,
        Try Universal Physical Therapy.
        Feel Better & Do More!
        Emma-Lyn Stone
        with Verandah Porche
                3/24/00
                Spin in the Millennium

Our Fishing Trip

Mom said, "Hey, Emma and Jacob,
why don't we go fishing
out by Ruger's in the Sugar River?"
Me and my brother said, "Okay."
Dad said, "I can't come,
�cause I've got to go to work,"
but he dug some worms for us.
My mom brought the poles
and some Goldfish for a snack.
We drove there in our Jeep Grand Cherokee.
When we cast, the bobbins hit the water
and went SPLASH!
Sometimes, in the right spot,
I could get my line over the bushes,
but other times it got tangled in the brush,
and we almost fell in.
We kept our scissors handy.
If we couldn't get the line out, we'd just clip it.
It was a tricky spot.
We saw a couple of river bass,
but my brother kept hollering,
so they all swam away.
In the distance, we could hear
the tumblers of Ruger's roaring,
but it was sort of peaceful, too.
Our dad was down at Ruger's,
unpolluting the water,
so that all the fish would come back
and we could have better luck.

Emma-Lyn Stone

Dreams of Mine

An artist with a paint brush,
a poet with a book,
a doctor with a scalpel,
a photographer with a look,
a teacher with a pointer,
a vet with a sloth,
an astronaut in outer space,
a designer with some cloth,
an opera star with a contralto voice,
but never a plumber, if I had a choice!
        Emma-Lyn Stone
        Spin in the Millennium
        May 19, 2000

Breakfast for Dinner at the Pines

I sit here to order pancakes and French Toast.
I see the cemetery with flowers on the graves
across Sunapee St.
I take the Union Leader and the Valley News
and read the comics, Classic Peanuts and Prince Valiant.
"Thunder Roll," I hear on the juke box.
I drink Slice and read the paper.
In the kitchen, they're fixing up the meal,
s-s-s-s-s sizzling goes the cooker.
On the walls are old newspaper clippings
with pictures of homecoming games.
Here she comes through the swinging door
with my food, and I am ready with my knife and fork.
Reuben LaFountaine

Cookin' up a Storm at the Country Kitchen
to Pat and Lisa Tremblay

When chicken is cookin' at the Country Kitchen,
the homefries are sizzling, never stickin'.
Pat and Lisa rush around while you're fast asleep.
They're scrambling the eggs while you're counting your sheep.
The Specials are Magic Markered up on the wall.
The chocolate chip pancakes come in large and small.
You order what you need and it comes speeding your way.
Your waitresses are ready when it's time to pay.
The grilled cheese sandwiches come crispy and hot.
They tingle your taste buds and hit the spot,
with a side of soup and crackers to crumble
into the bowl when your tummy rumbles.
Your favorite dessert? It's hard to choose.
With tapioca pudding, you just can't lose.
You order a hot fudge sundae for dessert.
Your mother says, "Please, don't spill it on your shirt."
At the Country Kitchen on Thanksgiving Day,
They serve turkey to the public, and you don't have to pay.
You stuff yourself silly until you wobble,
then all of a sudden you just start to gobble.
Emma-Lyn Stone
with assistance from Kory Blanchard, April Brinley, Meghan Holmes,
Sara Jennings, Mandy Tatro

What is Newport's Millennium Project?

Self Portraits in Newport:SPIN in the Millennium | Mission Project Goals | SPIN Activities
Verandah Porche, community poet | National Sponsors | Newport Honored

Self Portraits in Newport SPIN is an ongoing community project, designed to release the poetry of local life and, by sharing it, shape hopes into action. SPIN in the Millennium, a collaborative literary project with its own process and outcomes, will provide momentum and imagery for Newport's Third Community Mural.	Mission Newport's Millennium Project brings together community members and seasoned artists to honor the businesses and workers along the three-mile stretch of Sunapee Street, in their own words and with their own visions. Newport's Millennium Project advances ECON's commitment to strengthen the community through ambitious civic projects which bring state, regional and national resources and attention to Newport engage a wide range of residents in dialogue with artist/scholars to interpret and honor local life culminate in public presentation and create a durable legacy.
Project Goals Artists engages with community members to honor community experience and knowledge; to explore the culture of local businesses (what they do, and how they do it); to define and highlight local work ethics; to identify business practices which contribute to healthy economic development; to use the arts and humanities as tools of civic empowerment.	Spin Activities Writing of articles, essays and poems; Creation of workers' narratives through crafted interviews; Facilitation of public conversation with civic groups; And through TV and radio collaboration on the creation of the third community mural preservation of archival material publication and presentation of selected writing and photography mentoring selected students in the activities listed above.
National Sponsors Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: Artists & Communities, America Creates for the Millennium is a nation-wide program made possible by major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Prudential Foundation, the Earle I. Mack Foundation, and the Brimstone Foundation.	Newport Honored In the spring of 1999, Newport was selected to represent New Hampshire in a nation-wide residency program, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation: Artists & Communities: America Creates for the Millennium. Newport was chosen because of the quality and depth of its community projects during the �90s: the Corbin Covered Bridge Festival, the Artists Congress, the Community Murals, the Machine Tool Exhibit, and the SPIN Project.
Millennium Artist Vermont poet Verandah Porche was chosen from more than 200 seasoned artists invited to participate in Artists & Communities. Verandah, who led the SPIN Project from 1996 to 1998, has worked in community settings during her 30-year career, to distill, in the voice of the people, a literature of local experience. Verandah Porche will continue the SPIN Project in collaboration with the Economic Corporation of Newport (ECON) and Newport's Community Mural Artists, E. Thor Carlson and Bryony Romer.	Verandah Porche, Millennium Poet 863-7059 Patryc Wiggins, ECON Director 863-8857

Thanks for stopping by the virtual Poets Corner, at the Richards Free
Library in Newport, New Hampshire. Read our poems aloud and learn about
our Town. Don't be afraid to snap your fingers.

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