From The Newtown Poetry Series Facebook Page
Kathleen Mulholland and Susan Gerardi Bello invite talent from Philadelphia to North Jersey, and everywhere in between and beyond, to grace our readings either as a featured reader, or to share in the open mic, which follows our headliner.
After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, our series will resume, April 22, 2022, @7:30pm to launch Bill Wunder’s new book, Welcome to Paradise, New and Selected Poems, published by WordTech Editions. Please join us!
Praise for Welcome to Paradise
Welcome to Paradise is a best-of Bill Wunder and then some. This collection includes a trove of gems from the poet’s previous books, notably the Vietnam War poems and Bible poems, and gifts us with new poems that celebrate the green Earth, the cold bright cosmos, and, warmly and lovingly, the poet’s father. Especially striking are the new poems about illness and disability—“Adversarial Relationship” and “Dear Parkinson’s.” Wunder’s contemplative and image-rich lyrics look into the depths of experience and reflect on it, sometimes with ferocity, sometimes with quiet awe. These are poems of a good heart. Savor them.
—Lynn Levin, author of The Minor Virtues
What the Coronavirus Taught Me,
That the stars know nothing
of social-distancing
and are still pinned
to their assigned places.
That the moon, made heavy
by sadnesses,
still rises.
And Venus, that diva,
still glimmers
low on the horizon.
That you only have to look
at the crocus, the daffodil
to draw strength
from their courage.
That you must first listen
to the wood thrush,
the nightingale
if you wish to sing.
The Newtown Library Company 