Franklin Street 1957 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798901468050)

You'll be glad you followed John Ziegler to Franklin Street. His poetry is packed with incredible stories and compelling people. Meet Leppy, whose "rotund belly was too large to fit into most cars," Fred Wormly, who looked and sounded like Mississippi John Hurt, and The Mighty Atom - star of the sideshow at the county fair. A witch lives down the street, and the cellar is haunted by a monkey paw and a dark man who hovers over the fermenting sauerkraut. John's poetry describes a lost world in which boys enjoy an endless summer with frogs, snakes, and fishing holes just a Schwinn ride away. Tom and Huck would feel right at home here. He writes wonderfully of the start of a solo fishing trip: "A wispy mist rose from the black lake, / the boat made a cushing sound."

Later, John opens the door to his house and invites you in. His writing makes you want to stay - "Early mornings in autumn / father would burst into our sleep, / throw open the window / shouting, "Geese, boys, geese!" And in another poem, "Grandmother's gray wool winter coat was topped / with a glorious green glass button."

This book is a treasure. The stories will captivate you over many readings and make you feel like a child on the first day of summer vacation.

-Steven Deutsch, Sinclair Poetry Prize winner for Brooklyn