The Poet Next Door: Meet Millie Nash
A profile of local poet and Town Meeting legend, Millie Nash
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The best works of art – whether visual, auditory, written, or some combination of the three – hit us right in the thinks and feels.
A beautiful poem, painting, song, or sculpture can transport us to another place, or it can send us deep within, allowing us to see ourselves, our neighbors, and the world in a new way.
Art also adds character to a community. Think about the musicians playing on the Town Common during the summer concert series, the works at the Sculpture Park, or the murals on Moran Street in the Town Center. They give residents and visitors something to take in and think about as we navigate through our days.
You’ve probably seen all these forms of art at one time or another in Burlington, but you might not be aware of the many accomplished artists who walk among us each day. One such artists is local poet Mildred Nash.
Millie is the author of four poetry col-lections, the latest of which is Sow Many Gardens. She’s been a poetry lover since before she can remember. “My mother was really instrumental,” said Nash, whose earliest memories are of her mother reading to her from a book called 100 Best Poems for Boys and Girls. Today that collection is nearly 100 years old, and some of its works are much older.
“I've been writing it practically forever,” said Millie. “I was in elementary school when I wrote my first poem.”
Millie's First Poem
When I cannot spell a word
to go to the dictionary is absurd.
For if you can't spell it, pray tell,
how can you find it
in that well
of knowledge?
For Millie, who started learning about poetry in infancy and later studied with renowned poet Elizabeth Bishop at Harvard, nursery rhymes are an essential foundation, and she’s saddened they’re not as commonly taught to today’s children.
Lately she enjoys reading work from poets like Lawrence Durrell and T. S. Eliot, but she says some of the most insightful lessons about life and poetry have come from Mother Goose.
"A good poem grows with you,” she said.
Much of Millie’s work has an intimate quality, as if it’s just for her and the person she’s writing about. Stars for Starters, a collection of poetry about the constellations of the night sky, was written in honor of her granddaughter, and she’s also written for friends, other family members, and her late husband. Today she feels inspired by a particular friendship, and much of her poetry is written in honor of that friend.
There’s more to Millie than poetry, though. She was an educator at Marshall Simonds Middle School and taught in the BEAM (Burlington Extended Academic Model) program there for many years.
In fact, when the Burlington Public Library recently hosted her as a featured speaker during National Poetry Month, patrons in the packed house included former students like Select Board member Mike Espejo.
Millie is also a 50-plus-year member of Town Meeting, where she participates in shaping the future of the town; she offers her insight to some of the town’s other committees, as well.
You can find Millie’s poetry collections Sow Many Gardens and Beyond Their Dreams on Amazon.
