D'Alzon Library Events
A Poetry Reading by Mary Bonina
Friday, October 21 at 7pm
.
Mary Bonina's new poetry collection Clear Eye Tea was released October 2010 by Cervena Barva Press, which also published her chapbook Living Proof (2007). Her poetry and prose has been featured in Salamander, Hanging Loose, English Journal, Gulf Stream, in many other journals and several anthologies, including Voices of the City, a project of the Rutgers University Institute for Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience (Hanging Loose Press, 2004). Excerpts from her memoir, My Father's Eyes received Honorable Mention in the University of New Orleans Study Abroad Competition and earned her the designation of "first alternate" for the Goldfarb Family Fellowship at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, where she has been a fellow since 2002. She has also received a residency fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center. Her poem "Drift" won the UrbanArts, Inc. "Arts on the Line" competition and was inscribed in a granite monolith, a permanent public art installation outside a busy Boston subway station in Jamaica Plain. Bonina, who earned her M.F.A. in the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, is a member serving on the Board of Directors of the Writers Room of Boston, Inc.
http://www.marybonina.com
Generosity (a short litany before sleep)
Praise
the downtown street
Praise
all the buses departing Roseau
which have names not numbers
Praise
Sweety's, God's in Control,
Too Much to Mention, Not Mine,
General Love and Parce Que –
my favorite – the Because Bus
Praise
for Carmen Watt
and her Licensed Tavern,
the menu on a hand-painted board
Praise the blood of island fruit and herbs:
juice made of sorrel, sour sop, cherry,
barbardine, grapefruit, carambola,
pineapple, orange, passion fruit, guava
Praise
the light breeze that sweeps
the coconut palm fronds
Praise
the rain coming down heavier
dousing the smoky fires
Praise
that someone who is humming
Praise then the whole forest humming, too.
(from CLEAR EYE TEA, Cervena Barva Press, 2010)
