Seasons
A half-century ago, cradling my newborn PhD in American Poetry from SUNY/Buffalo, I began my writing life in earnest — a two-volume dissertation on William Carlos Williams prefaced by my teacher and mentor, Robert Creeley; my first translations from the poems of R. M. Rilke featured on the front page of American Poetry Review; my inaugural scholarly article on WCW and Valery Larbaud in American Literature magazine; and my home-grown founding and editorship of The Niagara Magazine, the inaugural number being an anthology of “poets of Western New York and Ontario.”
My first book of poems, SEASONS, emerged soon thereafter, produced lovingly by the venerable Salt-Works Press helmed by my now departed, much-missed friend, Tom Bridwell. Printed and bound letterpress in the basement of the Dennis, Massachusetts General Store, two hundred fifty copies hand-set in 12-point Bodoni, with covers handmade from recycled ledger paper, marsh grass fiber, and (truly!) an old yellow button-down shirt from the floor of my closet. The cover graphic is a growth-ring print pulled directly from a tree stump.
SEASONS is a small press gem indeed. And yes, I must confess, the poems of my youth can still stand on their own — organic, modern influences and all. — N.B.