It is refreshing to read Susan Parenti’s poetry
collection in this era of oppressive shallowness. Her poetry pokes fun at our
ego-driven society and unfurls the layers of social hypocrisy and
discrimination while it incites us to rejoice in the spirit of friendship and
the glorious moments of everyday life.
She bolsters our confidence to speak up through the arts.
She bolsters our confidence to speak up through the arts.
Her verses
are the voice of a free spirit who is not afraid of questioning the rigidity of
social conventions. She asks questions and exposes the absurd side of reality, impelling us to revisit it from new perspectives and acknowledging that
personal experience is our best teacher.
I will take the liberty to share one of her poems:
You think your luck will come in the form of a
grant or award,
with successful prestigious people doing what they
can do: confer prestige;
that your luck will wear the face of cameras, or
dollar amounts, your name
on the door: Professor______ , your name in the
newspapers, on people’s lips.
You think your luck will look these ways.
Thus you look around for your luck, and, not seeing
the form you think it will take,
say, I have No Luck.
The picture, Der Niesen, by Klee, 1915, blue mountain
and colored trees,
stands on the wall.
But your luck has taken other forms:
friends, parks in your neighborhood given to you as
a legacy from
far-thinking predecessors, ideas, a group spirit,
the ability to feel so
glad at reading a playful sentence, a talent at
love.
Your luck sits in the room with you; you don’t
notice.
Goes with you each day; you don’t recognize it.
