POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY
Click Image to Visit the Pecan Grove Press Web Page for Poetry from Paradise Valley

POETRY FROM PARADISE VALLEY web page

Poetry From Paradise Valley

Pecan Grove Press has released an anthology of poems, a sampling of works published in Valparaiso Poetry Review during its first decade, from the original 1999-2000 volume to the 2009-2010 volume.


Poetry from Paradise Valley includes a stellar roster of 50 poets. Among the contributors are a former Poet Laureate of the United States, a winner of the Griffin International Prize, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, two National Book Critics Circle winners, six finalists for the National Book Award, four finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award, two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize, and a few dozen recipients of other honors, such as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc.

Readers are encouraged to visit the Poetry from Paradise Valley page at the publisher's web site, where ordering information about the book can be found.

Best Books of Indiana 2011: Finalist. Judges' Citation: "Poetry from Paradise Valley is an excellent anthology that features world-class poetry, including the work of many artists from the Midwest, such as Jared Carter, Annie Finch, David Baker, and Allison Joseph. It’s an eclectic and always interesting collection where poems on similar themes flow into each other. It showcases the highest caliber of U. S. poetry."
—Indiana Center for the Book, Indiana State Library

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Shooter Jennings: "Fourth of July"




As the long Fourth of July weekend approaches and many will be traveling on vacation in the days ahead, I suggest some rousing music by Shooter Jennings perfectly designed for the holiday and summertime cross-country driving. I know it is one of my favorites to blare in the car—with the windows open to the warm July air when motoring along the interstate highways or county roads—and, as Shooter describes in the song, to just sing along.

Surprisingly, the song even begins with a few somewhat poetic lines: “Alone with the morning burning red / On the canvas in my head / Painting a picture of you and me . . ..” (I usually write about jazz, but I’m fond of all kinds of music, and I confess I often find country lyrics unassumingly poetic or entertaining; therefore, I like the words in the rest of the song as well.) Also, the video appropriately closes with some fireworks. Enjoy and drive safely!


FOURTH OF JULY

Alone with the morning burning red
On the canvas in my head
Painting a picture of you and me
Driving across country
In a dusty old RV
Just the road and its majesty
And I’m lookin’ at you with the world in the rear-view

You were pretty as can be, sittin’ in the front seat
Lookin’ at me, tellin’ me you love me
And you’re happy to be
With me on the 4th of July
We sang “Stranglehold” ‘til the stereo
Couldn’t take no more of that rock ‘n’ roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along

Those white lines can drone into the sun
If you ain’t got no one to keep you hanging on
But there you were like a queen in your nightgown,
Ridin’ shotgun from town to town
Staking a claim on the world we found
And I’m singin’ to you, you’re singin’ to me,
You were out of the blue to a boy like me

You were pretty as can be, sittin’ in the front seat
Lookin’ at me, tellin’ me you love me
And you’re happy to be
With me on the 4th of July
We sang “Stranglehold” ‘til the stereo
Couldn’t take no more of that rock ‘n’ roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along . . . sang along—

And I’m looking for you in the silence that we shared

You were pretty as can be, sittin’ in the front seat
Lookin’ at me, tellin’ me you love me
And you’re happy to be
With me on the 4th of July
We sang “Stranglehold” ‘til the stereo
Couldn't take no more of that rock ‘n’ roll
So we put on a little George Jones and just sang along . . . sang along!

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