99 Poems Quotes

“CRUISING WITH THE BEACH BOYS So strange to hear that song again tonight Traveling on business in a rented car Miles from anywhere I’ve been before. And now a tune I haven’t heard for years Probably not since it last left the charts Back in L.A. in 1969. I can’t believe I know the words by heart And can’t think of a girl to blame them on. Every lovesick summer has its song, And this one I pretended to despise, But if I was alone when it came on, I turned it up full-blast to sing along— A primal scream in croaky baritone, The notes all flat, the lyrics mostly slurred. No wonder I spent so much time alone Making the rounds in Dad’s old Thunderbird.”
― Dana Gioia, 99 Poems: New & Selected

“Here is the church,
Here is the steeple,
Open it up,
And see all the people.”
― Dana Gioia, 99 Poems: New & Selected