Elizabeth Iannaci is a poet, actor and singer and has served has co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets. She has been a prominent voice in the Southern California poetry scene for a number of years, and recently she completed her studies at the MFA program at Vermont College. In one of her bios it says, “She has a son and a picture of a dog.” Her chapbooks are Passion’s Casualties and Renoir’s Daughter.
Elizabeth’s poetry is funny and smart, and often pokes fun at the often absurd lives of those who inhabit this most and least American of cities. Often it is personal, but her focus does not seem to be on herself; rather, it is to the words themselves. Elizabeth’s love of words is apparent in everything she writes—to see her interact with words, on the page or the stage, is to witness a sensual act. This is a poetry of surprises and delights, pain and overcoming, and excitement in the act of creating.
12
Line Poem Containing 6 Lies
My first husband said we were the Beatles
the sum of us being greater than the total
of our parts, then died in the soft
arms of our babysitter
My second, hovered, folded notes
into my suitcase, choked me with roses
and when I finally left, replaced me
with his college sweetheart within a month
My third, fed me fresh jalabees
in bed in Mumbai,
held my head when I threw up
and told me it was a real diamond
My first husband said we were the Beatles
the sum of us being greater than the total
of our parts, then died in the soft
arms of our babysitter
My second, hovered, folded notes
into my suitcase, choked me with roses
and when I finally left, replaced me
with his college sweetheart within a month
My third, fed me fresh jalabees
in bed in Mumbai,
held my head when I threw up
and told me it was a real diamond
© 2010
Elizabeth Iannaci
Elizabeth Iannaci was a Featured Poet who read her poetry at the January 2010 Second Sunday Poetry Series.
Elizabeth Iannaci was a Featured Poet who read her poetry at the January 2010 Second Sunday Poetry Series.