We have a new poem from one of our far-flung contributors, Tom Sexton in Alaska. Tom is a former Poet Laureate of Alaska and a permanent member of the Lowell High School Alumni Hall of Fame. The photographs below are by Kevin Harkins, made a few years ago when Tom was visiting the Merrimack Valley. Tom’s recent book of Lowell poems is Cummiskey Alley (Loom Press), which is available at LALA Books on Market St. in downtown Lowell and online at Loom Press, Amazon, and elsewhere.

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Over the Chugach on a Cool September Evening

by Tom Sexton

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“Not so good news from my doctors,” I say to the full

moon rising over the Mountains behind the city.

You’ve been my guide, my companion,

since I was a young boy walking alone at night,

so I’ll leave an entry from Dorothy Wordsworth’s

diary about seeing you swimming like a minnow

on the bottom of a vernal pool. It’s wonderful.

Her brother borrowed her images for his poems.

I’ve kept it in my wallet for a very long time.

“You’ve half-covered me with trash,” the moon replies

or seems to reply. It’s very windy tonight.

My wife will see to the details as she always does.