Daniel Shapiro is the Director of Literature at the Americas Society as well as the Editor of Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. His past works include Child with a Swan’s Wings (2013) and the translation of Cipango, by Chilean poet Tomas Harris (2010). This year he is back with an all new passionate and frank poetry book published by Dos Madres Press. This past weekend he held a reading at Book Culture and I had the change to attend and listen to the author read from his latest publication, The Red Handkerchief and Other Poems.
While I love to read poetry, it’s always better to have the poet themselves read it because you have the chance to hear how the poetry sounds from the actual poet. Published by Dos Madres Press, Inc, this latest poetry collection includes poetry inspired by the author’s personal life; from friends and family to the places that he has traveled, we now have the ability to see the world through Daniel Shapiro’s eyes. It’s amazing to read and hear how another person views the world around us and this book was an eye-opener for me. The vivid and descriptive way Daniel Shapiro describes each event, occasion, person, or object really places you at that exact moment. Below you can find an excerpt from The Red Handkerchief.
The Red Handkerchief
I.
The hustler leans against the hotel,
muddy eyes fixed on space,
dreaming about his single lucky star
impaled on its spire,
about a bird with carmine wings to carry him off
beyond the stain of his horizon.
A red handkerchief hangs out his pocket,
it is the flag of his desire:
a whole hand sliding into him
and clenching,
his voice lost inside a pillow.
The young ones strut back and forth
beneath the awning, its bare aluminum frame
faded green. Who is green?
Where is a man with thick arms
to take him in, the single customer he wants,
the dead explosions
that were once his life to him?
The book is on sale through the Dos Madres website as well as on Amazon. If you missed this reading you can actually attend the author’s next reading. Daniel Shapiro is gearing up to hold another reading of The Red Handkerchief and Other Poems in the near future; you can follow Mr. Shapiro on Twitter @danezra1 to be kept up to date.
Twisted Talk: Did you attend the reading at Book Culture? Will you be getting a copy of The Red Handkerchief and Other Poems? Discuss below!
