A Letter to Serafin

Acknowledgments

77 Acknowledgments I’d฀like฀to฀thank฀the฀editors฀of฀the฀following฀journals฀and฀presses฀for publishing฀earlier฀versions฀of฀poems฀that฀appear฀in฀this฀book: Cerise Press: “On฀Not฀Smiling” Connecticut Poetry Review:฀“Farm,฀1962,”฀“Michelangelo:฀Leda฀and฀Zeus,”฀“October฀ Primrose” Crab Orchard Review:฀“Thieves฀of฀Warsaw” Fourth River: “A฀Letter฀to฀Serafin,”฀originally฀published฀as฀“A฀Letter฀to฀Serafin฀M.” Great River Review:฀“Jewish฀Cemetery,฀Rymanów” The Isle Review฀(defunct฀online฀journal):฀“Lublin,฀Rain” Marlboro Review:฀“Resort฀Town” Meridian: “Tree฀Lilac฀in฀Blossom,”฀originally฀published฀as฀“Japanese฀Tree฀Lilac฀on฀ Solstice฀(4)” Mid-American Review:฀“Two฀White฀Bowls” Mr. Cogito (online฀at฀www.mrcogito.freeservers.com):฀“November,”฀from “The฀Camps”฀sequence Poetry East:฀“Out฀of฀the฀gray฀sky…”฀originally฀titled฀“on฀listening฀to฀Robert Johnson’s฀Blues” Poetry Midwest: “On฀the฀radio—25฀dead฀Italians…” Quarterly West:฀“A฀Letter฀from฀My฀Great-Grandfather,฀Serafin฀Minczewski” Sojourn:฀“One฀Version,”฀“In฀a฀Spoleto฀Hotel” Umbrella:฀“The฀Last฀Pietà,”฀“Madonna฀with฀the฀Outline฀of฀a฀Breast” “Annunciation”฀originally฀appeared฀in฀a฀postcard฀series฀published฀by฀฀ Červená Barva฀Press. “A฀Letter฀to฀Serafin”฀was฀included฀in฀a฀special฀issue฀of฀Kritya,฀focusing฀on Polish-American฀Poets. The฀fourth฀section฀of฀this฀book,฀“November,”฀was฀published฀as฀a฀limited edition฀chapbook฀by฀Finishing฀Line฀Press,฀Lexington,฀Ky.,฀2007. Travel฀and฀time฀to฀write฀were฀made฀possible฀by฀generous฀grants฀from฀the฀Saint฀ Paul฀Companies฀and฀the฀Jerome฀Foundation.฀Many฀thanks฀also฀to฀the฀Corporation ฀of฀฀ Yaddo฀and฀the฀Anderson฀Center฀for฀Interdisciplinary฀Studies฀for฀the฀use฀ of฀their฀facilities฀where฀I฀worked฀on฀a฀number฀of฀these฀poems. Additional฀thanks฀to฀those฀who฀have฀read฀and฀commented฀on฀earlier฀versions of฀these฀poems฀and฀manuscript:฀Kath฀Jesme,฀Alvaro฀Cardona-Hine,฀Eleanor Wilner,฀Carlen฀Arnett,฀Ed฀Shannon,฀Becca฀Barniskis,฀Patricia฀Zontelli,฀Janet฀ Holmes,฀Bob฀Ayres,฀Francine฀Sterle,฀Elton฀Glaser,฀John฀Guzlowski,฀Philip฀ Metres,฀my฀editor,฀Mary฀Biddinger,฀and฀the฀anonymous฀reviewers฀at฀the University฀of฀Akron฀Press. I’d฀like฀to฀thank฀Józef,฀Grazyna,฀and฀Joanna฀Kuryłowicz฀for฀their฀generosity,฀ help,฀and฀hospitality฀in฀Czarna฀Białystocka,฀Poland,฀and฀my฀cousin฀Jadwiga Ejsmont฀for฀arranging฀introductions;฀Sarah,฀Łukasz,฀and฀Michał฀Łuczaj฀in Krosno,฀Poland;฀Monika฀Garbowska฀in฀Lublin.฀To฀Topazia฀Alliata฀and฀Toni฀ Mariani฀in฀Rome,฀undying฀gratitude. Akron฀Series฀in฀Poetry Mary Biddinger, Editor Barry฀Seiler,฀The Waters of Forgetting Raeburn฀Miller,฀The Comma After Love: Selected Poems of Raeburn Miller William฀Greenway,฀How the Dead Bury the Dead Jon฀Davis,฀Scrimmage of Appetite Anita฀Feng,฀Internal Strategies Susan฀Yuzna,฀Her Slender Dress Raeburn฀Miller,฀The Collected Poems of Raeburn Miller Clare฀Rossini,฀Winter Morning with Crow Barry฀Seiler,฀Black Leaf William฀Greenway,฀Simmer Dim Jeanne฀E.฀Clark,฀Ohio Blue Tips Beckian฀Fritz฀Goldberg,฀Never Be the Horse Marlys฀West, Notes for a Late-Blooming Martyr Dennis฀Hinrichsen,฀Detail from฀The฀Garden฀of฀Earthly฀Delights Susan฀Yuzna,฀Pale Bird, Spouting Fire John Minczeski, Circle Routes Barry฀Seiler,฀Frozen Falls Elton฀Glaser฀and฀William฀Greenway,฀eds., I Have My Own Song for It: Modern Poems of Ohio Melody฀Lacina,฀Private Hunger George฀Bilgere,฀The Good Kiss William฀Greenway,฀Ascending Order Roger Mitchell, Delicate Bait Lynn฀Powell,฀The Zones of Paradise Dennis฀Hinrichsen,฀Cage of Water Sharmila฀Voorakkara,฀Fire Wheel Kurt฀Brown,฀Meg฀Kearney,฀Donna฀Reis,฀Estha฀Weiner,฀eds., Blues for Bill: A Tribute to William Matthews Vern฀Rutsala,฀How We Spent Our Time Clare฀Rossini,฀Lingo Beckian฀Fritz฀Goldberg,฀The Book of Accident Ashley฀Capps,฀Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields Roger Mitchell, Half/Mask Alison Pelegrin, Big Muddy River of Stars Jeff฀Gundy,฀Spoken among the Trees Brian฀Brodeur,฀Other Latitudes William฀Greenway,฀Everywhere at Once Heather฀Derr-Smith, The Bride Minaret John฀Gallaher, Map of the Folded World John Minczeski, A Letter to Serafin About฀the฀Author John฀Minczeski฀resides฀in฀the฀Twin฀Cities,฀where฀he฀works฀and฀ teaches.฀The฀author฀of฀four฀poetry฀collections฀and฀the฀editor฀of฀ three฀anthologies,฀his฀poems฀have฀appeared฀in฀numerous฀journals,฀ including฀Poetry East, Quarterly West, Agni, Meridian, Pleiades, Free Lunch, and฀Nowa Okolica Poetow.฀His฀book,฀Circle Routes,฀won฀the฀Akron฀ Poetry Prize in 2000. About฀the฀Book A Letter to Serafin฀was฀designed฀and฀typeset฀by฀Amy฀Freels.฀The฀typeface ,฀Centaur,฀was฀designed฀by฀Bruce฀Rogers.฀It฀was฀released฀in฀ 1929฀by฀the฀Monotype฀Corporation. A Letter to Serafin฀was฀printed฀on฀60-pound฀Glatfelter฀Offset฀Natural ฀and฀bound฀by฀Cushing-Malloy฀of฀Ann฀Arbor,฀Michigan. ...