My Uncle Primo Fiore, who died this month about three weeks shy of his 92nd birthday, was a man’s man. At one family get-together, when he was in his eighties, he shared a secret with me and my son, Adam, who asked his great-uncle what kept him so vigorous, robust, active, and full of life. […]
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This Is How You Begin to Write a Poem [10 Steps] For my Aunt Jackie Sapienza, who encouraged me, and Manhattan College Professors John Nagle, Mary Ann O’Donnell, John Fandel, and Edward Proffitt — all of whom wholeheartedly shared their love and appreciation of the written word. Step 1: Clear and Focus Your Mind Some
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All Memories Have a Tinge of Bad 24 August 2022 Louis Vincent Balbi I’ve had a couple of bad days. – Why? Remembering and socializing with… – With whom? People. – A party? A wake and a funeral. – Oh. It was bittersweet. It felt good to be with… – Sorry for your loss. Some
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The Past Lives On 13 March 2016 Louis Vincent Balbi My seeing the effects today of the actions of our past, led you to complain, “Stop living in the past.” I do not live in the past but the past lives in me. The past lives in all of us, whether we accept it or not. Our children are proof of
Primo Voice In Remembrance of Primo Fiore September 6, 1930 – August 13, 2022 by Louis Vincent Balbi My Uncle Primo was not a very tall man. And yet, I struggle to name any other man except for his brother-in-law, my Dad, Sal Balbi, who I looked up to more. If for nothing else, being
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Some weeks before my Uncle Primo Fiore’s 90th birthday back in 2020, his children — my cousins — sent out requests to share stories about Primo that they would give their father on his birthday. What a grand idea, I thought. Much better than any store-bought birthday card. While I often grab paper and pen
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An Age of Angels Poem Sometimes I wish I was less at ease being alone. I imagine I learned to seek refuge within myself ever since I was little because I found the world outside myself too unpredictable, unstable, and changeable. It frightened and confused me. I mention this because I would have liked to
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Consuming August 13 August 2022 Louis Vincent Balbi AUDIO: Consuming August read by Louis Vincent Balbi Tending to my daily duty to Yeats’s dying animal — the mortal body we each are fastened to — I put in time on my sturdy Schwinn recumbent exercise bike listening to an Audible audiobook. Now I am as hot and sweaty as when stepping out of
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