This past Saturday, the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library conducted its second annual Poetry of Wine event at Mine Oyster to raise funds for the continuing operation of the downtown library.

The Sept. 13 fundraiser, which saw success during its inaugural run last year, claimed an attendance of approximately 50 people and featured poetry readings from Emily Rand Breitner, Robin Merrill and Wesley McNair, Maine's poet laureate.

It also included a wine tasting, complete with hot and cold hors d'oeuvres — all provided by Mine Oyster — and a silent auction for various paintings, prints, gift certificates and local memorabilia. Tim McFadden, the library's director, said he felt the event was a success and that he appreciates the support of everyone who attended.

"I thought it went really well," McFadden said. "(It shows public) support of the library and the literary culture of Maine."

He said people often refer to the library as the "third place" with home being first and work being second. The library, he said, is an important location in the lives of many people.

The literary aspect of the event brought focus to the seemingly mundane elements of life and built them into something more. The poets spoke about animals such as cats and mice in Breitner's "Cat Trio" and "Ode to Mouse," and about dirty hands and getting back to nature in Merrill's poem about fiddleheading and her one titled "A Nature Poem."

Breitner took the time to carefully read out the names of her poems before divulging their contents. She read first among the three poets, and her calm style set the stage for what was to come. Event participants were still shuffling in, gathering their appetizers and finding their seats, and Breitner's collected reading showed her familiarity with animal companions and the simple allure that is buttered toast.

"Priorities," the cats would think, Breitner said. "Food first; then a lick and a love."

"Butter and crumb become a match made in the unpredictable memory," she continued.

Merrill's presence was much more forceful, and she refrained from reading titles. Instead, a combined, in-your-face sort of humor and seriousness spoke of cliches and getting back to one's roots.

"A writing teacher told me that clichés were evil," Merrill told the crowd. "She told me to avoid them like the plague."

She also discussed how a poet once told her she was not a true Maine poet because she didn't write about nature, so she went to Florida to be in the forest and write a nature poem. She soon found a red ant army setting up camp on her blanket, and while her pants were down to her ankles so she could scrape off the ants from her "white moon," a passerby saw her.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Writing a nature poem," she responded with verve.

McNair spoke last. He approached the audience with a diminished volume but with no less enthusiasm. He brought the evening together with the theme of love.

"Every poem is a love poem," McNair said, “because every poem asks us to care about something that would have been lost."

"The Rule of the New Car" describes the rules the narrator had with his bright blue car. "The One Who Will Save You" touches on the existence of life in central Maine.

"Love Handles" prioritizes bald spots and fat bellies as bodily aspects that are, to some, enjoyable and grow fonder with the passing of time:

"Years together," McNair says of hands gliding over bodies, "they glide, eyes closed along love handles across the floor."

The poets' contributions to the evening were among many aspects that filled Mine Oyster Saturday evening with the sounds of literary enthusiasm, the smell and taste of reds and whites and an appreciation for the written and spoken word that made some think, some laugh and yet others cry as a result of that laughter.