Minnesota Poetry: Diane Pecoraro

Diane Pecoraro, has always said that her goal is to craft short accessible poems. To that end, she writes both humorous light verse and poems which are more serious in tone. Themes such as urban life, human interaction, and immigrant issues interest her. She has a lifelong interest in art, so landscape is a subject which inspires many lines. For occasions, she likes to create playful songs and rhymes.

Pecoraro has been writing since she was a young teenager in New York. She has participated as a reader at numerous poetry events. Her work was included in an anthology (Charlotte's Table) nominated for a 2005 MN Book Award.

Recently, Pecoraro was named Community Poet of St. Louis Park. As part of her duties, she's participating in the city's "Our Town, Verses and Voices" project, which is bringing people of different backgrounds together in seven community workshops to write and share their favorite poetry. From those submitted, Pecoraro will select 12 poems for the city's 2011 calendar, and the community will create a renga, or collaborative poem. Find out more information about the St. Louis Park project here.

Chicago Morning Irony

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The titans of trade,

Wanamaker and Ward,

Macy and Woolworth,

reign opposite The Merchandise Mart*

their sculpted busts perched on columns

in a row high above the Chicago River.

These men made money and retail history

brought goods across America and taught America

to consume those goods. They elevated peddling

from cart to multi-floor emporium,

elevated drawings of finery to catalog art.

On this day when the Dow drops 400 points

and the future of buy- and- sell is in limbo,

I sip coffee in a cafe opposite

imagining that such news might etch a few lines of worry

on the bronze foreheads of each of these nobles.

Reality intrudes on reverie.

A band of city pigeons lands

and does its collective pigeon business.

Droppings dribble down a bald pate,

rivulets flow over a sculpted cheek ,

white graffittis the elegant ear of a third.

No exemption for the wealthy:

Even the great are not immune in

an alien storm.

*The epicenter for high design and luxury goods, the Merchandise Mart is the world's largest commercial building, largest wholesale design center and one of Chicago's premier international business locations. The Mart spans two city blocks and rises 25 stories.

- "Chicago Morning Irony," by Diane Pecoraro. Printed here with permission from the author.