The Saturday Spotlight: Nancy Denofio

The Saturday Spotlight: Nancy Denofio

I first came across Nancy via Twitter, @NancyDenofio, when she invited me to join her Facebook group, Got Poetry. As we got to know each other I got to know her work....and its quality. Nancy already has one poetry book published, What Brought You Here. Her second, Did You Ever Want To Fly?, is due out next week.

What is interesting, however, about Nancy is that she was discovered by her publisher, Dystenium LLC, on Twitter!!!

I had all intentions of writing a great bio, retelling this great tale and introducing you to her tremendous work, but guess what, it has already been done! For those of you that are regulars to One Stop Poetry you know Maureen Doallas and her site, Writing Without Paper. Earlier this year, Maureen wrote a wonderful article and introduction about Nancy, combining her poetry with an absorbing interview.

"Poet Nancy Denofio was on Twitter one day this past March, alternating passionate tweets about health care reform with posts of urls to her homepage and a blog, when she received an e-mail from someone who'd followed her links, read a bit of her work, and expressed interest in her poetry. Ironically, Nancy tells me in an interview I conducted with her by e-mail, the first piece of work the individual had read was "What Brought You Here?"

To see the original article please visit Introducing Poet Nancy Defonio, by Maureen Doallas.

Please enjoy this poem with me by Nancy.

YOU ASKED ME TO DANCE

by Nancy Defonio

A white butterfly -

You - have come home to dance

on my shoulder - high above daisies

to spin in circles

casting our shadows on a pond

a rendezvous of seasons, and

a landscape covered in snow.

You fooled me.

Your sister’s, sister?

No one noticed when she fell

through ice.

A white picket fence keeps

me away.

I feel your wings .

You flutter toward the barn

passing the statue of the

Blessed Virgin Mary.

We dash to skip over holes

in the floor of the barn.

You grab my hand

we skip over light; reflections

on a wide plank floor.

We pass a broken lantern -

red glass shimmers,

and Grandmother’s wedding dress

hanging near our homemade stage.

You grab my hand, and together

we run to the hillside -

we roll into a ball and tumble

“head over heals,” Grandmother said

on over grown grass.

We roll over clover and our toes tangle

in weeds,

we roll near apples left beneath the apple

tree.

In winter,

I hear you laugh -

your tears roll down your face

you’re laughing so hard

you bend to catch your breath.

Your chin captures yellow of a butter cup,

and again - the wings of a white butterfly

leads me to the white picket fence.

The slope disappears.

The apple tree, a twig.

And your face

appears in murky water.

Your laughter still surrounds me.

A stone is tossed, and circles swirl over,

and over.

My eyes close as if captured by the

swirling water,

and you were gone.

Forgive me.

A yellow eye - inside a white daisy

asked me to dance.

We are leaping across summer grass

near tall weeds and wild flowers.

A dance ends – so,

I snap your stem to take you home.

One Stop Poetry wants to wish Nancy Denofio the best with her new publication; 
Did You Ever Want To Fly
available soon