The Art of Arranging

This anthology is the first of the archival chapbook collections in Alternating Current Press' Violet Ray series. All of these authors have passed away, but one of the missions of Alternating Current Press is to keep alive the pre-digital words of authors from the turn of the new millennium, the post-Beat and avant-garde poets of the 1970s through early 2000s who may have had their heydays before the Internet was a widespread thing. This anthology comprises 5 chapbooks + outtakes, including never-before-published poems. / / Just Because I Didn't Leave the Driving to Us I Got Jailed and Juiced Good by Paul Weinman: Detailing an excursion Paul Weinman took as the driver of a stolen Greyhound bus in New York in the 1970s, the poems are at once shocking, funny, and real. Chocked full of wit, sarcasm, fleeting moments of uncertainty, anger, and humor, Weinman manages to keep the situation lighthearted yet full of detail, comparing the hijacking to Melville's grand whale, his own personal feat of greatness. / / The History of Candles by Joseph Verrilli: Poems of Joseph Verrilli's wife's life and death, his memories of her, and coping with her loss. The book touches on the spirituality of dealing with a loved one's death, the possibility of reincarnation, spirits of the dead inhabiting the bodies of the living, how we came to be here, and what happens to us when we go. / / Body English by Joseph Verrilli: Poems and prose of reincarnation, spirits, and childhoods relived through the souls of other children. Joseph Verrilli's late wife was fascinated with her own childhood growing up at the turn of the 20th century, 20 years before Verrilli was even born. When he takes work as a teacher's aide, he becomes entwined with the lives of the young students whose spirits and childish freedoms match his late wife's, questioning the possibility of her breathing her own life into them. / / Near daybreak, with a nod to Frost by Harry Calhoun: Through poems of aging, drinking wine, and loving a dog, Harry Calhoun digs deep into the tenderness of love and its high-maintenance upkeep, from enjoying moments of nature with furry pals to picking up the pieces of a broken relationship. Poems of mending, deep reflection, utter happiness, and utter pain. / / Retro by Harry Calhoun: A harking back to the glorious retro times of yore, these are the poems from Harry Calhoun's younger days that he remained at peace with through older age. Written in the 1980s and 90s, these poems are representative of some of Calhoun's best work that stands the test of time, giving a peek into his sordid past.