IN ITALY: A PERSONAL JOURNEY by Joseph A. Soldati

$14.49

 

EATING ART
                                            For Jack Portland
For a long time now I’ve wanted to arrange
lemons on a plate as Matisse did—a yellow
trinity aglow on aged pewter; or, like Cezanne,
pile apples, oranges, and pomegranates
in a shallow bowl until they spill across
the sideboard, their bright orbs enhancing
the old wood, the pitcher behind, the empty
wine glass waiting.  They invite us to touch,
to cradle them in palms made orbicular,
to sense, so to speak, citrus against skin.
Just today I have set a simple lunch
like a De Luca still life—a plate of cured sardines,
hunks of peasant bread, onions, and a bottle of Chianti—
that we serve ourselves and, serving ourselves,
savor the earth and sea.  Afterwards, as in your
Images of Italy, there will be two cups of caffe
and, next to them, a frosted bottle of limoncello—
its sweet bitterness a bite and kiss in the mouth.
*****
Category:

Description

IN ITALY: A PERSONAL JOURNEY

by Joseph A. Soldati

$14.49, paper

Joseph A. Soldati’s latest chapbook is In Italy: A Personal Journey published by Finishing Line Press (2015).  Soldati has published numerous poems and essays in a variety of literary journals, magazines, and anthologies for 40 years.  Some of his poems have appeared in America Magazine, Carpe Articulum Literary Review, New Millennium Writings, and Windfall.  Soldati has published five other books: On Account of Darkness (2011), Apocalypse Clam (2006),  a bilingual volume of poems, co-edited, with Eduardo González-Viaña, O Poetry! ¡Oh Poesia! Poems of Oregon and Peru (1997),  Making My Name: Poems (1992) and a scholarly book, Configurations of Faust (1980).  Soldati is a Professor Emeritus of English at Western Oregon University, and the recipient of two Fulbright Fellowships.  He is a long-time member of the Friends of William Stafford and former Chair of its Board of Trustees.  He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his two cats, Roxanne and Tramp.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “IN ITALY: A PERSONAL JOURNEY by Joseph A. Soldati”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related products