ODE TO BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS

About the Book

ODE TO BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS (The Emerald Necklace, Bunker on the Hill and other Tanka-Cantos) is a bright new collection of tanka or Japanese ´short-poems´ commending Boston, Massachusetts. In this new volume, John Ross has written sixty tanka-cantos which highlight some of the city´s most beloved historical and modern landmarks. Chooing a five-line contemporary approach, governed by a precise 5-7-5-7-7 syllabic pattern, Ross has created ´short-song-poems´ which are colorful bold images goverened by emotional restraint and economy of language; ones which seem to evoke a sense of lyrical and colonial celebration toward his overall subject matter. Although each previous line may provide a distinctive image or idea, the concluding two stanzas (each, a seven syllable couplet) resolve by flowing together as a larger unbroken "musical" sequence; one whose theme is grounded in the celebration of Boston geography, culture and American colonial history.

About the Author

John Ross, Jr. holds graduate degrees from Boston University (S.T.M., theology), Harvard University (A.L.M, Dramatic Arts); and a third in pastoral theology (M.P.S.) from Loyola University Chicago. John is the author of four poetry collections. His interests include the relationship between science, religion and the fine arts. He teaches at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago.