“The Discovery,” “Blue,” and “It Begins with Palm Trees” by Glen Vecchione appeared in Issue 38 and can be found here.
We’d love to hear more about this set of poetry.
I jumped at the opportunity to submit three poems to Sequestrum’s wonder-themed issue and was happy when all were accepted. Our capacity to feel astonishment has contracted in a culture that tips more precipitously towards violence and chaos. The places that once inspired wonder, the coral reefs for example, suffer desecration or oblivion. The challenge for an artist is to eke out and express wonder in ordinary things, perhaps to develop a greater awareness of extraordinary things.
What was the most difficult part in writing this set?
Each poem presented challenges and discoverable solutions. With “Blue,” it was the rapture of seeing colors again after years of blinding cataracts, but I wanted to pivot to something deeper and mystical: a “creature memory” or prehistoric version of myself that evolved in a world of uncorrupted blue. “The Discovery” was just that: a vision, triggered by the taste of a single fermented grape in my garden, that I struggled to bring into focus. Finally, “It Begins with Palm Trees” came from their rattling sound in the hot winds of the desert, where I live. The sound was both ominous and plaintive, a protest and a surrender.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
I’ve just finished the novel Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart, the sequel to his first novel Shuggie Bain. Both deliver vivid and solid storytelling. If I may, another nonfiction title: Ed Yong’s An Immense World that describes the wonderful strangeness of sensory perception throughout the animal kingdom.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
Cormac McCarthy for the lyric power of his narrative and depth of his characters, Margaret Atwood for her brilliant world-making, Frank McCourt and Mary Karr for their hilarious memoirs, and Tobias Wolff for his masterful short stories. They’re all authors with vision and passion who’ve marshaled their gifts to consistently produce excellent work. I want to know their secret!
What are you working on now? What’s next?
A milestone would be to have my book of poetry published, curated from over 30 years of writing poems. Close behind is a collection of short stories that I’ve revised for years and now seem ready to meet the world. A novel? – maybe, but at this point in my life it seems wiser to concentrate on smaller projects!
Our thanks to Glen for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “The Discovery,” “Blue,” and “It Begins with Palm Trees” here: https://www.sequestrum.org/new-poetry-from-glen-vecchione.
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Glen Vecchione is a poet, fiction writer, and the author of 34 nonfiction books for Sterling and Scholastic Publishing. His science, math, and history titles are published in several languages and distributed throughout the world. His poetry appears in Missouri Review, ZYZZYVA, Cincinnati Review, Comstock Review, Timberline Review, and he was named a Finalist in the 2022 Sewanee Review poetry competition as well as nominated for the 2022 and 2023 Pushcart Prizes. Glen also composes music for television with many product jingles and network themes of the late 1990s coming from his pen. Glen is a thirty-year resident of Southern California and currently divides his time between Palm Desert and San Diego. Find more at https://glenvecchione.com/.