MATTAPOISETT — In front of the gazebo at Dunseith Gardens, lines of poetry cut through the din of traffic.

Poets and listeners gathered at the grassy spot on the morning of Monday, June 12 for “Poetry at the Park” held by the Mattapoisett Land Trust.

Altogether eight poets — all women — recited some of their original works. 

Charlotte Cole, a graduate of Roger Williams University, read “Four and a Half Minutes,” a piece about the 2022 fire at the boatyard in Mattapoisett, from which her family lives across. 

“The orange of sunset rippling with the waves, as we floated through life — sticky with ice cream, stung by the sun,” the poem began. “Surrounded by the walls of a town so engrossed with itself the rest of the world ceased to exist. A small town with a love like no other.”

Other Mattapoisett residents to share words included Margot Wizansky, Ellen Flynn and Elizabeth Sylvia.

Wizansky concluded a trio of poems with “Ode to Hands.”

“Hands — mine, yours, ours — keep us steady, keep us going, comfort each other until loss returns, the salty depths of it,” the poem started. 

One of three poems Flynn read was named “A Quiet Daydream.”

“Soaring high above windless ships, a meadowlark rounds the sun’s amber glow,” the poem opened. “Splendid moments of a quiet daydream yet not slow.” 

Sylvia read poems about her family — pieces that were more reflective of “the beautiful but noisy environment,” that poetry group had gathered in, she said. 

“When this child was born, I held her like a meteor in my arms,” part of “The Swim Lesson” by Sylvia went. 

Vivian Eyre, who said she drove from Warren, Rhode Island, opened Poetry in the Park with “First Anniversary at the Farmstand.”

Later, Marion resident Madeline Cooke read a piece titled “The Splendor of the Elements,” while Gayle Boston Santello, also a Marion resident, read “On Aucoot” and “Fields of Freedom.”

Concluding the gathering of poets was Fairhaven resident Marty Epstein, who read “An Elm in Winter.”

“Very nice morning,” Colleen Andrews, operations manager of the Mattapoisett Land Trust said. “Great way to start the day.”