CHELSEA RESIDENT POET STILL SOARS ON WINGS OF WORDS
“I build my bridges in the sky,
Of hopes and dreams they’re made.
I build them strong,
I build them high. Each day the frameworks laid.”
–Eleanor Scott
(Belvidere, NJ)— Eleanor Scott wrote her first poem, Bridges, at age 15. As a teenager growing up in Caldwell, New Jersey, she’d had poetry in her head since she was a little girl.
“Writing poetry is the best way to get your important emotions out,” she says as she thumbs through collections of poetry she has compiled since moving to The Chelsea assisted living community seven years ago. “I did it because I could.”
During her high school and college years, Scott showed impressive talent in track and field, specifically as a sprinter and long jumper. She recalls vividly one relay race at Madison Square Garden where she missed winning by inches.
“The crowd roared, thousands of people cheered,” she remembers. Coming in second paled in comparison to the exhilaration of running a race before such a large crowd in such a legendary venue.
She never had the persistence to become an Olympic athlete and instead turned her attention to school, earning a Master’s degree in education. Her passion for poetry made her a natural as an English teacher. For thirty years, she taught 8th and 9th grade English in public schools in Summit, NJ, and Elmira, NY.
“I designed my course to make the students love poetry,” she recalls. “And they did.”
Song lyrics were a big part of her curriculum.
“I used Kenny Rogers ‘The Gambler’. And I loved Kris Kristofferson’s lyrics.”
Mrs. Scott has had poetry published in Spitball, a magazine and website devoted to baseball poetry. She is a die-hard Mets fan.
Today, she encourages residents at The Chelsea to write and contribute to poetry journals she assembles and distributes throughout the building.
