Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery (located on 106 Prospect Street in Cambridge) with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On October 15th, we will welcome the long anticipated visit of Nathan Graziano to Stone Soup.
Nathan Graziano lives in Manchester, New Hampshire, with his wife and two kids. He teaches high school at Pembroke Academy. His latest collection of poetry,Teaching Metaphors, was released by Sunnyoutside Press in June. He is also the author of Frostbite, a collection of short fiction, and nine chapbooks of poetry and fiction. Below is a sample poem, originally published in Rattle.
On a Former Student’s Spread
in Hustler Magazine
She seemed much happier in the nude,
with her fingers clamped to stiff nipples
and legs spread wide in a claw foot tub,
than she ever did in my classroom,
half-listening to me blather about Blake,
her head down on the desktop.
As I search for lint in her bellybutton
and dirt behind her airbrushed ears,
I realize she would not know Hamlet
if he were to show up at her photo shoot
with his foil’s tip dipped in poison
and drawn to the greasy photographer’s throat.
Even if the prince were to introduce
himself by name, nothing would register,
as if “Hamlet” was plucked from a phonebook.
But she couldn’t mistake the look in his eyes
when she glanced back from her pose
to find him ready to cry or scream.
Visit Nathan Graziano's web site.
