Description
Poetry. Driven by the rhythms of everyday language and filled with details only a lifelong outsider registers, Gloeggler sheds light on a world habitually ignored. Covering the 35 or so years the poet has worked in group homes for the developmentally disabled and his relationship with his ex-girlfriend's autistic son, this book goes beneath the labels. No one's special or exceptional, cursed or looking for pity. It's just individuals with different talents and shortcomings trying to make it from one day to the next with maybe a little extra help. It's the frustrations, the tedium, the care and love, the well-earned dignity, the sense of helplessness that sometimes overwhelms and the rare epiphanies. It's all about connections, commitments and bonds and realizing that we are more like each other than we're ever comfortable to admit.
Author Bio
Tony Gloeggler has always lived in NYC. He has managed group homes for developmentally disabled folks for over 40 years. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies since the late 80s and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize a number of times. His chapbook, One on One, won the 1998 Pearl Poetry Prize. His first full-length collection, One Wish Left, published by Pavement Saw Press, went into a second printing in 2007. His most recent books include, WHAT KIND OF MAN (NYQ Books, 2020), UNTIL THE LAST LIGHT LEAVES (NYQ Books, 2016), was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award in 2016, and THE LAST LIE (NYQ Books, 2010).
Author City: Richmond Hill, NY USA