On a steamy July afternoon in 2020, while the rest of the world was silenced by the coronavirus, the verdant hills of New Castle County’s Rockwood Park and Museum echoed with the elegance of poetry.
Delivered from the majestic front porch of Rockwood’s Gothic Revival museum, it was the first of 21 programs in the Poetry at the Mansion series that have since been presented there by award-winning Delaware poet and Rockwood’s first poet-in-residence David P. Kozinski.
It was a scenario that would have warmed the heart of merchant banker Joseph R. Shipley, who, in 1851, built his grand retirement estate on 400 wooded acres at the corner of Washington Street Extension and Shipley Road in suburban Wilmington, to resemble Wyncote, his country estate in England.
“According to Shipley’s friends, he loved English Romantic poetry. It’s easy to imagine him at Rockwood, enjoying the poets who were so enthralled by the wonder of nature,” wrote Mary F. Holahan in an April 3, 2022 “Gallery & Studio” article.
Kozinski has made it his business to lend his resonant voice to many poets, classic and contemporary, as well as to his own work in his programs that have had a wide range of themes including animals, love and holidays.
His most recent program, on the evening of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, focused on light as a poetic theme. His next program, 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21, will highlight Beat Era poets.
His Poetry at the Mansion series, for which he not only reads poetry but also talks about its intricacies, has attracted audience members of all ages, races and creeds, both those familiar and unfamiliar with the genre. The aim, noted Kozinski, is to make poetry accessible to everyone.
“Poetry is for everyone. It really is quite democratic – with a small ‘d’, that is, “said the 68-year-old Brandywine Hills native.
Among his faithful fans has been Wilmington resident Jane Crowley, a retired psychologist, who, before attending Kozinski’s Rockwood programs, had only been to a few poetry events.
“David’s readings are a break from everyday life as we know it,” said Crowley.
She also enjoys the fact that audience members are invited to each read a poem at the end of the programs. For some, it is the first time they have ever read in public.
“To me, it means that folks feel comfortable enough to stand in front of a group and share words that they’ve chosen with care and effort,” said Kozinski.
A board member of the Eastern Shore Writers Association and the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center, he has hosted a diverse selection of other local and regional poets for some of his Rockwood programs.
On Sept. 21, he will share the stage with veteran Wilmington poet Phil Linz and recent Archmere Academy graduate Sophia Chen, a Gold Key winner in the 2024 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, Delaware division, competition for which Kozinski has served as a juror.
In 2019, Rockwood staffer Carole McKinney engaged Kozinski after retiring Rockwood director, Philip Nord alerted her of Kozinski’s offer to stage programs at Rockwood during 2018 when he was the Delaware Division of the Arts Established Professional Poetry Fellow.
When pandemic restrictions interfered, McKinney and acting Rockwood Director Dena Kirk arranged for a limited number of masked attendees to sit safely distanced on the lawn, facing the porch. Since then, Rockwood Director Ryan Grover has brought the poetry series inside the historic mansion. It is one of many programs he now oversees for visitors of all ages.
”Rockwood’s historic library, formed by the same family for 120 years, reminds us of the importance of literature, especially poetry, to the people who lived here,” noted Grover.
Kozinski has authored two full-length poetry collections, “Tripping Over Memorial Day,” which includes a poem about Rockwood’s Bringhurst Woods, and “I Hear Things the Way I Want Them to Be,'' both published by Kelsay Books. More than 180 of his poems have appeared in over 40 literary publications.
Also an award-winning artist, Kozinski, who as a child studied at the Delaware Art Museum , has presented programs on ekphrastic poetry – poetry inspired by art.
In 2018, he was named Mentor of the Year by Expressive Path, a non-profit program that promotes the arts among at-risk youth in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Kozinski has garnered many national, regional and state awards including the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize .
In October 2019, at the request of New Castle County Executive Matthew Meyer, Kozinski helped Catherine Wimberley coordinate the first poetry reading at the Route 9 Library & Innovation Center in New Castle, Delaware.
For more information about Poetry at the Mansion and the 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 21, Beat Era program, or other Rockwood events, go to Rockwood.org or call (302) 761-4340.
David P. Kozinski can be reached at dpzeek@comcast.net.
Patti Allis Mengers is the wife of David P. Kozinski .
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Rockwood Park celebrates four years of poetry in Delaware
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