May 2021
John L. Stanizzi
Jnc4251@aol.com
Jnc4251@aol.com
Author's Note: This new book, a follow-up to POND, comprises a group of poems in a kind of hybrid
ekphrastic format. I'll explain. I always have my camera with me and along my drives to "wherever," if I see a nice
"potential" photo op., I take the picture. When I get home I write about the photos I took. In that sense, the poems
are not "purely" ekphrastic; rather, they are "something like" ekphrastic. All the photos were taken in Coventry or
Mansfield, small sister towns out in the midst of Windham County, in the far eastern part of Connecticut.
Sea Cairn
Photo credit: John L. Stanizzi
I sang in my chains like the sea.
Dylan Thomas —Fern Hill.
For Sam Norman
-Bottom stone
the sea circles around you
to whisper an essential truth
but you refuse to listen
singing woefully in your chains
-Second stone
you lean toward the waves
which comes as a surprise to some
something calls out to you
to encourage you to speak for yourself
a man stands alone
too overwhelmed to consider
any of what is being said
-Third stone
you hold the second stone securely
like your lover
yet depend on the fourth
to influence the wind
the salt-spray
your absolute flatness
in this tremulous world
-Fourth stone
could you be conjoined
you face each other with such intensity
that you create the illusion
of needing no one else
-Fifth stone
why are you wet
did the sea choose you to bless
and make glisten?
-Sixth stone
perfect egg
wind-tattooed
penultimate jewel in the
broad face of the gale
-Top stone
at the ready
blue sky or black
there is no lock
no key
just the unexpected
barely heard or seen
soon the sea rises up around you
and closes your eyes
probably forever
©2021 John L. Stanizzi
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author (email address above) to tell her or him. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual.
It is very important. -JL