Local poet and longtime educator Bob Clark will be in the spotlight this April as he celebrates the release of his newest poetry collection “Water Lily.” Clark will host a book signing at the bookstore Sherman’s of Windham from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 4, where he will feature his three most recent works: “Seaside,” “Sleigh Bells,” and “Water Lily.”
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| Windham poet Bob Clark will host a book signing at Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shop in Windham from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 4. The event coincides with National Poetry Month with several of Clark's poem's displayed at the Windham Public Library in April. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Clark, a retired Spanish teacher who spent 40 years at Gorham High School, has been curating National Poetry Month displays at the library for many years. The tradition began shortly after he left the classroom. “When I retired, I had some poems and I said, ‘You know, I’ll go to my library and see if they want me to do a display,’” he said. “And it’s continued ever since.”
“Water Lily” is Clark’s seventh book, joining a body of work that includes “Seaside,” “Canoe,” “Carriage Lane,” “Tourmaline,” “Spinnaker,” and “Sleigh Bells.” His writing is deeply rooted in the landscapes and seasons of New England, especially Maine. Growing up in a book‑filled colonial home, he found early inspiration in decades of “National Geographic” magazines and a family globe that sparked a curiosity “beyond the Windham hometown borders.”
His interest in poetry deepened through high school and college, where he discovered the power of layered meaning and emotional nuance. Several poems in “Water Lily” - including “Alas!” “Run River Run,” and “A Rose Can Open” – reflect this approach.
Clark traces a major turning point in his craft to the mid‑1970s, when college seminars required him to study authors’ techniques across eras and refine his own writing. He gravitated toward rhyming couplets and four‑line stanzas, forms he continues to favor for their rhythmic storytelling. His sense of accomplishment came even earlier, in the 1960s, with “Song of Sebago,” written while he was a summer camp counselor.
As a young reader, Clark was captivated by the rhythm and rhyme of Mother Goose stories, later recognizing similar techniques in British and American poetry. Today, he is drawn to expressing “life worries and successes in poetical form” through patterns found in both nature and human experience.
Nature remains central to his process. Clark describes his writing as a three‑part practice: finding a topic, observing its characteristics, and understanding its impact. He is especially drawn to themes connected to the basic human needs of “food, clothing, and shelter,” and he embraces the unpredictability of where a poem may lead. He often recalls Robert Frost’s observation: “Writing a poem is discovering.”
Several poems in “Water Lily” explore the meeting point between the outer world and inner reflection - a concept inspired in part by Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth. Works such as “Sonnet 23 - By Surprise” and “Half Empty or Half Full?” draw on this interplay between nature and human experience.
Nineteenth‑century poets and Impressionist painters remain steady influences. Clark cites Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Robert Frost as “wonderful teachers,” whose language places readers directly in the poet’s world. Their blend of timeless themes and vivid detail continues to shape his work.
The emotional thread of “Water Lily” draws inspiration from artist Claude Monet, who once said, “I paint flowers, so they won’t fade.” Clark adopts a similar aim: to preserve cyclical, fleeting moments as if they were unfolding in real time. The collection explores the intersection of the natural world - landscapes, plants, animals - and human traits, sometimes overlapping and sometimes standing apart.
Clark hopes readers will find in his poetry a place of calm reflection. “Given any number of day‑to‑day stresses and distractions, I hope readers will find in my writing a safe haven into which a reservoir of their time will be well spent,” he said. He encourages patience, both in reading and in life, echoing the Roman statesman Cato the Elder: “Of human virtues, patience is most great.”
For those inspired by his work, Clark offers one final reminder: it is never too late to pick up a pencil and write a poem of your own.
For more details about Clark’s poetry, send an email to [email protected]. <
