Albert Starkey, Pogorelc Sanctuary
Listen:
Sanctuary
by Albert Starkey
The air finds itself catching a breath
as echoes flow from storied waters
to bring an ease with is-ness where it is
so life has a place to work itself out.
It is still as you walk amid the trees
thick as thieves, knowing who’s who
while yet unruffled and welcoming.
Everything that waits lives with them.
This is the place to be when being calls
when the birds begin to chant at dawn
and what’s not yet lived readies to rise
with you, out of you, into wildness.
Albert Starkey’s poetry has appeared in several literary journals, magazines and two anthologies, nationally and internationally. He is a past winner of The Atlanta Review’s International poetry competition, a winner of the International Library of Poetry’s Open Poetry Contest and a winner of the Carriage House Poetry Prize of Tiferet Journal. Locally, Al’s poetry has been exhibited in Cape Cod art galleries and museums, published in local newspapers and magazines, and aired several times on NPR radio. His latest book of poems is titled, Whistling Underwater, published in 2018. A former therapist and spiritual director, Al and his wife, Susan, have lived in Colorado and Ireland before settling in the village of Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts in 2015.
Pogorelc Sanctuary • West Barnstable • 9.9 Acres • 0.4 mile
Plaque Location: Pogerelc Sanctuary viewing deck, Barnstable Land Trust Conservation Center 1540 Main St., West Barnstable.
Located behind the BLT Conservation Center, the short trail offers views of the Great Marsh, Sandy Neck and over Popolo Pond, making it an excellent spot for walking and birdwatching. This trail winds around Popolo Pond through marshy woodlands, with boardwalks through the wettest areas.
The land lies within the Sandy Neck/Barnstable Harbor Area of Critical Environmental Concern, abuts a Priority Habitat for Rare Species and is located within a Critical Natural Landscape area and the Old Kings Highway Regional Historic District.
Parking: 1540 Main St, 10 spaces available behind BLT Conservation Center (unless programming or an event is underway).
