On the margins of hill country
where the stripped quarries stand
men uniform their boys
and push with a hardened hand
their souls to glory.
Where the stripped quarries stand,
each man lays his story,
last checks on the bar, lifting
their souls to glory.
To their boys they are gifting
all that they know,
last checks on the bar, lifting
half glasses as school jerseys flow
in this trace of a town, where
all that they know
is that grown dreams are rare
on the margins of hill country
in this trace of a town where
men uniform their boys.
Previously published in Glassworks, Fall 2015.
Author Bio:
On her first grade report card, Tina Tocco’s teacher wrote, “Tina always has very individual and creative ideas when she writes.” The editors at some journals, including New Ohio Review, Roanoke Review, River Styx, Crab Creek Review, Harpur Palate, Passages North, Potomac Review, and Italian Americana, must have felt the same way because they decided to publish Tina’s work. When Tina gets bored writing for grown-ups, she writes for kids, and is looking forward to having her children’s poetry collection The Hungry Snowman and Other Poems (Kelsay Books) published in Fall 2019. When she isn’t typing away at her day job creating K-12 materials, Tina likes to paint ceramics, listen to peculiar podcasts, and daydream about living in rural New England. Tina earned her MFA in creative writing from Manhattanville College, where she was editor-in-chief of Inkwell. Some of her favorite things are cats, popcorn, and the Lois Lowry book The Giver.
where the stripped quarries stand
men uniform their boys
and push with a hardened hand
their souls to glory.
Where the stripped quarries stand,
each man lays his story,
last checks on the bar, lifting
their souls to glory.
To their boys they are gifting
all that they know,
last checks on the bar, lifting
half glasses as school jerseys flow
in this trace of a town, where
all that they know
is that grown dreams are rare
on the margins of hill country
in this trace of a town where
men uniform their boys.
Previously published in Glassworks, Fall 2015.
Author Bio:
On her first grade report card, Tina Tocco’s teacher wrote, “Tina always has very individual and creative ideas when she writes.” The editors at some journals, including New Ohio Review, Roanoke Review, River Styx, Crab Creek Review, Harpur Palate, Passages North, Potomac Review, and Italian Americana, must have felt the same way because they decided to publish Tina’s work. When Tina gets bored writing for grown-ups, she writes for kids, and is looking forward to having her children’s poetry collection The Hungry Snowman and Other Poems (Kelsay Books) published in Fall 2019. When she isn’t typing away at her day job creating K-12 materials, Tina likes to paint ceramics, listen to peculiar podcasts, and daydream about living in rural New England. Tina earned her MFA in creative writing from Manhattanville College, where she was editor-in-chief of Inkwell. Some of her favorite things are cats, popcorn, and the Lois Lowry book The Giver.
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