I have developed what I am calling “Salerno Eyes,” this being the phenomenon of seeing everything from the perspective of the awareness I gained while in Italy, in the presence of so many amazing poet-activists. So for example, when I sat this past Thursday evening by the large, terraced fountain that graces the front patio of Sheboygan’s Mead Public Library, I thought, “how can I use this space for a community poetry event?” The space is calling out for oratory. Now that I have returned from my own personal Mt. Parnassus, I am sure I could make this happen.
I was at the library because the small press that I helped to found four years ago, Pebblebrook Press, was having a reading of our four most recent authors who would read from their books:
- Erik Richardson, a berserker stuck in traffic (a 32-page chapbook of poems that speak to the poet’s fascination with math, mythology, and fatherhood)
- Marilyn Zelke-Windau, The Momentary Ordinary (a 131-page collection of poems and original drawings that transform the everyday into something extraordinary)
- Mark Zimmermann, Impersonations (a collection of 73 lipograms, a form that restricts the letters of the alphabet that can be used in each poem to the letters in the poem's title.)
- and Karl Elder, who read from On Earth as It Is in Heaven, his novel that we will be publishing later this summer. (I was so enthralled by his reading, I totally forgot to take a picture of him. I'm sorry, Karl!)
As I listened to these poets read their work, I could not help but think, “the oral tradition is alive and well.” I felt validated and on-task. I felt like all these disparate pieces of my life are starting to come together. It is a good time to be job hunting. I am sure the perfect job is waiting for me, right around the corner. I just have to look for it with my Salerno Eyes.
Ciao, ragazzi!!
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