by Esther Cohen
The Guardian, May 1, 2026 with a photo by Roy Gumpel, The Overlook News.
Greene County New York is one of those places
small, poor, magical, compelling.
Incomparable beauty. Worthy of love.
Forty years ago we bought a house .
Sounds odd to say but
life there is a poem. A poem
I’ve been writing for forty years,
taught hundreds of writing classes.
Many at the Cairo Public Library.
Last fall the legislature and the arts council
decided they’d have their first poet laureate.
Arts council called to say I’d been nominated.
I explained that I’m a New York City Jew
who lives upstate part time. Maybe they wouldn’t
want me. Please apply he said. I won the title
of First Greene County Poet Laureate chosen by peers
and of course I was happy. They sent a signed
contract and a thousand dollar check.
My induction was planned for April 11.
The legislature and everyone would join
me writing poems. But on March 4
when the arts council head went to the legislature
(poet laureate is a legislative appointment) legislator
Michael Lanuto said on their video: I’ve been doing a
background check on her social media. She voted for
the Communist Zohran Mamdani (true) and she promoted
violence against Donald Trump on her Facebook page (untrue).
I became Not the Greene County Poet Laureate but then
a small online paper wrote this story. The story went viral
over a thousand readers wrote in support. Democrats
and Republicans too. Then The Guardian wrote the story.
A few days ago Raina Lipsitz, The Guardian reporter, posted:
I loved writing this story for many reasons.
In some small but important way
it made me feel better about Americans,
many of whom really do love their neighbors as themselves.
And even though I’m not the poet laureate, I’m still
hopeful as always that all of us together is the poem.
Esther Cohen is not the poet laureate now. She’s on Substack@Overheard.
