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I'm honored to have a new poem in Heimat Review's Prism issue. I wrote the following blurb about the backstory for "Farewell Ball at Quabbin Reservoir":
“Farewell Ball at Quabbin Reservoir” is based on an event held in 1938 in Enfield, Massachusetts. I first learned about the ball when I went in search of a cool running trail last summer. I ended up at Quabbin Reservoir, a beautiful lake that supplies the Boston area with drinking water. At a certain point on the trail, you can see the scattered remains of Dana Common, which was once a thriving town but was flooded along with three others to make way for the reservoir. After doing a little research, I discovered that the residents of all four towns held a goodbye ball before they left their homes behind for good. They danced on the lawn one spring night and enjoyed a final dinner at the town hall. At midnight, everyone fell silent as the orchestra played “Auld Lang Syne.” People wept as they sang. They felt powerless to oppose the state and some never got over the loss of what Enfield’s town doctor described as “a most delightful little bit of Eden.” Some parts of the dwellings were removed, but what was left was burned, then flooded. Even the cemeteries were relocated and the mountains eventually disappeared beneath the water. The idea of this ghost town—a kind of lost Atlantis—haunted me and I knew wanted to try to capture that night.
Each piece in the magazine features a backstory section and it's one of my favorite parts of the issue. I also love the cover.
I'm also pasting a link to my new poem, "Maiden and Crone," which appears in the spring issue of Belladonna's Garden. I'm a huge fan of this magazine, so please give the latest issue a read. It also features a gorgeous cover.
Last but not least, here is a link to Dave reading his work for the New England Poetry Society.