As a Catholic school attendee, I was immersed in exceedingly strange tales of saints. As a poet, I often choose to focus on some of these hagiographies, reimagining those with repugnant messages, or, in the relatively benign case of Giles, treating it as if I were a medieval monk, illuminating, not with brilliant brushstrokes, but with words that infuse the same sort of shimmering life I perceive when light spills through a church’s stained-glass window.

Frank Paino’s poems have appeared in a variety of literary journals and anthologies. His third book, Obscura, was published by Orison Books in 2020. Among other awards, he has received a Pushcart Prize, The Cleveland Arts Prize in Literature, and an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council.

W: frankpaino.net
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