Author Description

In Upcycling Paumanok, Ned Balbo shows how the currents of mid-century memory connect to our contemporary moment. Despite archaic oracles and architecture's visionaries, time refuses to yield its secrets, though love impels us toward renewal and a future unforeseen. Popular culture and history -- Winsor McCay, Jack Kirby, The Poseidon Adventure, Times Square, evolution, neuroscience -- provide a backdrop that Balbo depicts with tenderness and humor. A rondel, a terzanelle, a poem in rhyme royal, a rondeau redoublé, a curtal sonnet, and more are among the masterfully metrical forms encountered along the way, while "The Woods" -- a suburban pastoral and wide-ranging meditation -- is a moving example of Balbo's eye for period detail and the restless imagination he brings to every poem.