John L Stanizzi

Chants John L Stanizzi

Poetry. A memoir in sonnets. This is what history sounds like, a song that takes over us until we join the chants and become part of history. Thanks to John L. Stanizzi for showing us another path of walking into today.--Romeo Oriogun These loose sonnets with the punning title--CHANTS--push us in various directions: towards the past, towards the present, even towards the immensely problematical future. It's the story of a Catholic boy grown into a compassionate, intelligent man looking at the world as it has configured itself in his lifetime: all the changes. The difference from a newspaper account is that Stanizzi is an observer with music on his mind: 'cause / to breathe in cleanly in the thrall of rain.' These poems sing--CHANTS--about the life he has lived out of all the lives he might have lived: 'chance.' It is a poetry of witness dealing with death, life, childhood and growth. But it also allows us to experience sudden miracles of flight: 'I am inspired / to pick him [a goldfinch] up--and he lets me!--his eyes / unsure and trusting in a lightning flash, / and then he flies, my upturned palm in rain.'--Jack Foley These inspiriting poems amplify and celebrate life. They find the deepest reaches of the human heart with a passion that will cause readers to pause and read again. From the beauty of goldfinches to the horrors of war and the joys and tribulations of family life, John Stanizzi discovers the universal in the personal. He turns words into instruments that pierce the soul.--David K. Leff