Happy News!

I always love checking my mailbox – there’s always the chance that some good news will come my way. Yesterday, among the bills and circulars, I saw a hand-written envelope addressed to me. Inside was a letter that began “Congratulations! Your poems “Gale Warnings” and “Flax Pond” won First Prize for body of work in the Adult Poets Category of the 2014 Katharine Lee Bates Poets Contest.”

Every year the Falmouth Historical Society sponsors a contest to coincide with the birthday of Katharine Lee Bates, a Falmouth native and author of “America the Beautiful.” On the date of her birth, August 12, there will be a poetry reading featuring the winners of the contest. I will receive a gift certificate and a booklet of all the students and adult entries that won recognition.

Happy news! I am particularly happy to have taken first place and also that new poems have been recognized. On hearing the news of my win, friend and Cape Cod Times editor Gwenn Friss said, “Those can be in your next book.”

So often, poets work alone and don’t have feedback on new creations, so this win was a nice validation. It also fires my desire to keep writing and keep submitting.