Poetry is Wanted Here

NPR broadcast a poem reading of a work by Alex Caldiero yesterday that was written as a letter to a friend in New York after 9/11.

I'll have to ask Maciej Cegłowski if I'm qualified to speak with authority on this subject, but I thought it was an incredibly performed work. Caldiero, a Sicily-born former New Yorker living as a Mormon in Utah, reads with gusto, speaking with a booming, bass-thumping voice that's as American as Yankee Stadium.

I was driving my sons around when it was broadcast, and I cranked up the car stereo. They're masters of selective hearing, but took immediate notice of this poem, laughing throughout the reading and asking for a repeat.

Another NPR piece includes more of Caldiero's performances. Heralded as "Utah's preeminent performance poet," he's a father of five working as a freelance programmer, according to one review.

2005/04/07 · 0 COMMENTS · Link