Steel of Pennsylvania by Kevin O'Shea

Poems

June 2012

Steel of Pennsylvania

Burke

was right!

Snakes go eating across the milted river
and town children learn hunting in the forest.
Under guns and oiled sun, armies tamp the clay
and caviled prayers yelp through their armor
of steel castings against what hearts can rally.
On the Lehigh, Moravian bells toll the days
and mothers make other children from dross.
The engraved names of men and victories
weather from marble thinned like scattered bones.
The foundry’s molt breathing, over the valley,
thickens blurs of summer and winter’s frost.
Old river paintings show the Dutchman towns.
Bethlehem’s church pipes blow on Christmas,
sealing houses with wounds above the blast.

Kevin O'Shea is a poet living in New Jersey.

Webcasts

Poet George Green reads from his award-winning Lord Byron's Foot
George Green reads from Lord Byron's Foot, his collection of poetry that won the 2012 New Criterion Poetry Prize at a Friends & Young Friends event.

Celebration of the Life of Robert H. Bork, 1927–2012
From the memorial service for Robert H. Bork on April 9, 2013 at the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC.

James Panero on price gouging at the Met, with Fred Dicker
Are public museums like the Met overburdening visitors with "recommended" admission fees? Panero goes on 1300 AM to discuss his latest Daily News article during Fred Dicker's Albany-based radio program.

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