Italian sale Poems: Macerata and hill town poetry

I began this volume of poems the second day after we arrived in Macerata for our three month residence sale during the fall of 2008. They record many of the ordinary events in and around this Italian hill town that were extraordinary to me. I made the pen and ink drawing from a photograph of the coast we walked and dined at our first day in eastern Italy.

I have used Italian marbled and decorative paper where possible. I developed a decorative font for my versals from the hints of calligrapher Sherri Kiesel. I have hand-colored and hand-bound my pages. Italian tatted lace (il merletto a tombolo) from the region is inset into the cover, and suggests the Italian love of design and the patience and diligence in acquiring a difficult skill. Beneath the Colophon is lettering that I rubbed from a Roman wall plaque that I found embedded in the entry of the municipal building in Macerata.

This is the third in my series of (so far) five travel poetry volumes that use hand made paper and handicrafts of the regions I visit in the composition of my books.