2025 Poetry on the Trail Winners

The 2025 Poetry on the Trail contest is sponsored by Suzanne Follan Cook.

The Cazenovia Preservation Foundation is delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Poetry on the Trail Competition on the theme of “Neighbors.”

This year’s winning poets beautifully explored the nuance of neighbor relationships —across fences, within families, between community members, and even among the elements of nature itself. Their words remind us that the ties that connect us can be both simple and profound.

Celebrate with Us on the Trail

Join us for a Fall Foliage & Poetry on the Trail Hike on Sunday, October 5, at 1:00 p.m. as we unveil the new trailside exhibit of the winning poems along the Gorge Trail. Surrounded by autumn’s colors, you’ll hear several of the poets read their works. The hike will start from the Gorge Trail Gateway trailhead at 131 Albany Street, next to the Buyea’s True Value. If the designated trail parking spots are full, please park behind the Cazenovia Public Library and follow the trail from Creekside Park to the Albany Street crossing (please do not park in the parking spaces for the Buyea’s Hardware Store).

This community celebration blends poetry, conservation, and the beauty of the season—a chance to walk, listen, and reflect on the neighbors who share our world.

Please join us in congratulating this year’s winners! Their poems will be featured on the Poetry on the Trail exhibit and available for all to enjoy throughout the year.

Adult Category

  • To the one whose notes bloom at my bell,

    Each word a sunflower leaning in,

    You never let a silence settle,

    Where a warm "hello" could begin.

     

    We share more than bricks and boundary lines,

    A corridor patched with quiet grace.

    You prune not just the jasmine vines,

    But weave calm into this common place.

     

    Your kindness grows like ivy wide,

    Climbing the creases of my day.

    You, with hands like April rain,

    Make small hours blossom in soft array.

     

    Thank you for keeping your heart unlocked,

    For letting a stranger become your kin.

    Not all are lucky to share a fence,

    And feel the world grow gentler within.

     

    Here's to borrowed sugar and borrowed time,

    To laughter ringing down shared halls,

    To tears that don't ask whose they are,

    Just fall, and find neighborly walls.

  • Our backyards an adjoining dog park

    The gate between us rarely shut.

    Trading sourdough tips,

    teasing each other like sisters we never had;

    Sharing tools, rides and consoling each other over high car repair bills.

    Pickleball tournies at Burton elementary school: “Just one more game.”

     

    From different worlds and decades

    I could not have ever imagined

    How lovely it would be

    To know that my neighbor

    Right next door could make living in this sweet town

    Even more delightful.

  • I can help it

    That I want to start down each trail I see.

    A trailhead offers only a glimpse

    Of the path ahead.

    Each turn may reveal

    A fairy-sized waterfall,

     A roaring stream post-thunderstorm

    A grove of pines and ferns.

    On these trails, I meet roaming deer,

    Climbing racoons,

    A sly fox,

    Flitting birds

    In and out of the verdant tunnel overhead,

    Along the crisp orange pathway,

    Or gingerly stepping through the icy white.

    Occasionally another creature approaches,

    Her companion eagerly wagging his tail.

    She tips her hat with a smile.

    We are all neighbors on these trails.

High School/College Student Category

  • So I wake at the earliest sun

    Sounds of a morning song not yet sung

    Your keys, your doors, your shower run

    'Halley's light gleams at a distance, when evening bells have rung

     

    In continuum, fated strings unwind strung tight-in opposition

    Shuffle the gravel back to our doors

    Oh, such exhilarating journeys in and out

     

    Sounds of silence breed raging mirth into the caverns of my eager soul

    The murmurs interceded by sheer plaster

    Cross the gate-boundary between us

    Our secrets are now ours

    Everyone belongs to everyone

     

    Throats high and dry, drenched speechless by anticipation

    Keys in, keys out

    Headlights, red white and blue stings my eyes

    Like the flag, my eyes yearn for freedom to inspect beyond these walls

    Mystery unfolds, has us behold

    What story could be? Beyond those picket perfect doors...

     

    From the left tobacco sears, leaves me in tears of better air

    From the right new flowers turn sour

    Alas, how many times will I hear the echo of fomo2?

     

    fear, fear, fear... Only for the ones I held dear

     

    For there's no symphony audible, except the private solo of my neighbor's inaudible piccolo

     ————————————————
    1 Halley's Comet- a comet that only visits Earth every 76 years, star-crossed relationship

     2 FOMO- "fear of missing out," internet slang term popular among Millennials and Gen Z that expresses a fear of being left out and left behind by the world

  • How do you define our community? Is it by the people you know?

    Is it by the things you see?

    Cazenovia is a vast group of people,

    Places, and things to do.

    Our community expands far past our borders.

     

    A town does not end at its borders,

    And the same can be said for its community.

    Rather, it is shaped and spread by the things we do.

    The community changes by who and what you know,

    It is the connections between the people,

    And not always something you can see.

     

    Our community expands across the seas.

    You do not have to live within our borders

    Because we are a people,

    And no matter where we go, we are a community.

    We share what we know

    And we love what we do.

     

    In every action we make and everything we do,

    The things that people see

    Is what makes them know

    That we are much more than just our borders;

    And we are shaping our community

    Through all of our people.

     

    We bring in more people

    And we learn and share everything we do.

    It is constantly expanding, our community,

    And yet because we cannot see

    This, we establish our borders,

    So that we feel we understand and know.

     

    Yet, we must remember that we don't always have to know

    Because we will never know all of the people

    That fulfill their duties and extend our "borders"

    In every action that they make and do.

    By now I hope we are beginning to see

    That the world is our community.

     

    Cazenovia has no border that we could possibly know,

    Because our community IS our people.

    Keep this close to your heart through all that you do and all that you see.

  • Lincklaen Street

    Laughter on Lincklaen

    The pitter patter of paws

    Shimmering street lights

    4th of July

    Flags fly on porches

    Fireworks burst bright at night

    The children run wild

    Ice Cream

    All 3 locations

    Full of Sundaes, Specials, Smiles

    Close knit over cream

    Farmers Market

    Saturday mornings

    Peaches, pies, flowers and more

    Comfort in culture

    Purpose:

    Always consistent-

    Coffee, black, a smidge of room

    And a cheery grin

    4th of July Parade

    The kids and candies

    Racing to get immense handfuls

    United, full, hearty

Thank You to All Our Participating Poets

We extend our heartfelt thanks to every poet who shared their work with us. Each entry brought creativity, insight, and a unique voice to the theme of “Neighbors.” While not every poem could be selected for the exhibit, we are deeply grateful for the time, thought, and artistry that each of you contributed to this year’s competition.

Thank You to Our Sponsor and Judges

The 2025 Poetry on the Trail Contest and exhibit were sponsored by Suzanne Follan Cook and presented by CPF, the Cazenovia Public Library, local poet Eric Evans, and Cazenovia High School English teacher Wendy Everard.

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