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My Mother, Smoking By David Daniel A recent editorial in the Sun reports how Massachusetts’ ban on menthol cigarettes has cost the state a lot of tax revenue, while, simultaneously, tobacco sales in neighboring states without such a ban have spiked. I know almost nothing about public tax policy and…
Read More »Poet, publisher, and bookstore owner Lawrence Ferlinghetti passed away this week at the age of 101. A friend and publisher of Jack Kerouac’s, Ferlinghetti in the late 1980s visited Lowell at least twice as a guest of the Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! group. He began writing the poem below on a…
Read More »I wrote this appreciation of Roger Brunelle at the request of Dave Moore in England, all-around Kerouac wiseman and founder of a Kerouac Group on Facebook with thousands of members worldwide.–PM Au Revoir, Roger Brunelle (1934-2021) By Paul Marion Au revoir, Roger. Let’s hope we do see you again in…
Read More »Recycling this bulletin from 2010 when I regularly walked around Lowell. My habit was to walk and then write about what I’d seen for the Howe blog. This area is close to where I lived for 24 years, Highland St near the Rogers School. I was acquainted with Peter Danas…
Read More »Tom Sexton is the author of Cummiskey Alley: New and Selected Lowell Poems, which is available at loompress.com. He is a former Poet Laureate of Alaska and a member of the Lowell High School Hall of Fame. Crossing a Frozen Lagoon on a Sunday Morning by Tom Sexton “800…
Read More »In recognition of Black History Month, this week Trasna features an excerpt from a new publication by Joann Malone, Awake to Racism. Malone, an Irish-American, shares her experiences as a Catholic nun in Alabama in the 1960s. There, while teaching, she begins a lifelong involvement in the Civil Rights movement.…
Read More »This week Trasna is pleased to feature Irish poet, Frank Farrelly, who is based in Waterford city. Frank’s poems here are from his first full collection, The Boiler Room, and reflect on childhood, place and a growing towards an understanding of the complexities of life and living. The poem, Against the…
Read More »Poet Brian Simoneau, who grew up in Lowell, has a new book of poems due in June, No Small Comfort (Black Lawrence Press). Pre-order your copy now at this link. His poem “Thorndike Street” appeared in North American Review (Spring 2020). With his permission we reprint it here. Please click…
Read More »Here’s a poem from Tom Sexton’s new book, Cummiskey Alley: New and Selected Lowell Poems, which is available at www.loompress.com Triangle Luncheonette by Tom Sexton With its gleaming black-and-white marble floor and even its exotic name, Luncheonette, it could never be mistaken for a lowly diner like the Club…
Read More »George Chigas’ Review of On Earth Beneath Sky by Chath pierSath In the aftermath of genocide, survivors undergo a lifelong process of healing in an attempt to make sense of the traumatic events that ruptured their lives. They strive to come to a new understanding of themselves and the…
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