Author: Marty Luster

“To me the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the ships, with men in them, What stranger miracles are there?” – Walt Whitman

The schooner near by, sleepily dropping down the tide—the little boat slack-tow’d astern,
The hurrying tumbling waves, quick-broken crests, slapping,
The strata of color’d clouds, the long bar of maroon-tint, away solitary by itself—the spread of purity it lies motionless in,
The horizon’s edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud;
These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day.

Walt Whitman, from There Was A Child Went Forth.

Click for an earlier post and description of this project.

BEING A TREE.

When Lilacs Last  in the Door-Yard Bloom’d by Walt Whitman, is, in my very humble opinion, one of the greatest works ever produced by an American poet. At first reading, it is an exquisite elegy for Abraham Lincoln who was loved by Whitman and whose assassination shattered the poet. Slowly and carefully reading (preferably aloud) the poem’s 200-plus lines reveals a greater and deeper treasury of meaning through a rich orchestration of poetic devices.

I first encountered Lilacs in about 1960 while attending Long Island University in Whitman’s hometown of Brooklyn, NY.  My teacher was Professor Scott (I don’t remember his first name) who, like the Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society, brought Whitman alive for me and made him my life-long companion.

If you’ve never read Lilacs, or if you’ve not read it since college, give it a go.

Here it is:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45480

Featuring Joey Ciaramitaro, Manny Simoes, David Cox and Donna Ardizzoni.

This is episode 1 of an anticipated series of videos that will feature GMG contributors at work. Hope you enjoy.

Does anyone know what the space through which the rudder post runs is called?

Geno Mondello at The Dory Shop

An extraordinary event took place this evening on the Back Shore. A ribbon was cut by Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken to commemorate  the successful public campaign by the citizen organization, Save our Shores Gloucester, to raise $100,000 to purchase and protect 4 lots at 166-178 Atlantic Road from development.The land will will be protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement.

Thank you to Save Our Shores Gloucester from a grateful community, our children and our grandchildren.

Save Our Shores Gloucester (SOSG)

Roger Armstrong

Hazel Hewitt

Marty Del Vecchio

Dave Manley

Mark and Pam Poulin

Barbara Silberman