Hannah Van Sickle reviews David Giannini’s new book of poetry, Already Long Ago.
By my recollection, it was not long ago that I last had the pleasure of reading a slim volume of poetry penned by David Giannini, who—for five decades—has called the undulating Berkshire hills home. A bit of digging reveals it was January of last year when his last full-length collection was published; this time around, I am writing of his newest opus, “Already Long Ago” (Dos Madres Press), in the month of its publication (which gives me great pleasure). As to what continues to inspire the local poet after a prolific (my word, not his) career spanning 50 collections? “I have to breathe and I have to write,” Giannini told The Edge, drawing on the etymology of the word inspire (which derives from the Latin inspirare meaning to breathe). In other words, like air, “[p]oetry is always available if I am receptive or available to it.”
