Poem – PENULTIMATE (By John Stanizzi)

PENULTIMATE

for David Ferry (July, 21, 2015)

 

 

At 91, David tells me that he

is nearly finished with his Aeneid

translation and that he has started his

next book which he has tentatively called

Underworld, and he is already three

poems in, and when the Aeneid goes to

press he’ll focus more on this newest book,

but not right now — right now he is a slave

to Aeneas’s fearlessness and his

capacity for love in the face of

unspeakable grief, which Aeneas knew

right from the start was inevitable.

Maybe that’s what drew David to this piece —

the love that drove the journey, and the loss.

 

Author Bio: John L. Stanizzi



John L. Stanizzi is author of the collections – Ecstasy Among Ghosts, Sleepwalking, Dance Against the Wall, After the Bell, Hallelujah Time!, High Tide – Ebb Tide, Four Bits, Chants, and his is newest collection, Sundowning, brought out by Main Street Rag. Besides Antarctica Review, John’s poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, American Life in Poetry, The New York Quarterly, Paterson Literary Review, Blue Mountain Review, The Cortland Review, Rattle, Tar River Poetry, Rust & Moth, Connecticut River Review, Hawk & Handsaw, and many others. His non-fiction has appeared in Stone Coast Review. His work has been translated into Italian and appeared in many journals in Italy. His translator is Angela D’Ambra. John has read and venues all over New England, including the Mystic Arts Café, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, Hartford Stage, and many others. For many years, John coordinated the Fresh Voices Poetry Competition for Young Poets at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. He is also a teaching artist for the national recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud. A former New England Poet of the Year, John teaches literature at Manchester Community College in Manchester, CT and he lives with his wife, Carol, in Coventry.

www.johnlstanizzi.com