Even when Death inhabits a poem, he does not own it. He is a squatter. In fact, Death owns nothing. – Todd Moore
THE BROTHERS QUATRONE They attack us, this I know. They don’t understand. This I know, too. And in some instances they are right to criticize us. For we have committed our wrongs. But there is more to us than how Continue reading The Brothers Quatrone by Rich Quatrone
THE CHRISTMAS BLUES I’m starting to get the Christmas blues. They come in ones and threes and twos. It’s as if I have no shoes. No shirt, nor pants, nor happy to-dos. I’m starting to feel the Christmas sorrow. And Continue reading The Christmas Blues by Rich Quatrone
THE LAST DAY OF SEVENTY ONE the last day is like all the other days only this one is the last of those days when I was 71 and before that 70 and before that 69, then 68, 67, 66, Continue reading The Last Day Of Seventy One by Rich Quatrone
TEARS BEFORE SUNRISE here i am an old man already how did this happen anyway because i am not old inside i am the boy in high school the kid on the streets of the city longing for a first Continue reading Tears Before Sunrise by Rich Quatrone
I BECAME ALONE I became alone when the world spun out like a mad globe in the dark universe when I was 22. That night on the Columbia campus when the stars shifted and nothing was to be the same Continue reading I BECAME ALONE by Rich Quatrone
A WAY OUT I’m searching for a way out. But not death. That is not the way. Not cancer. Not any other fatal disease. I seek the right way out. The healthy way. The courageous way. The new way. A Continue reading A Way Out by Rich Quatrone
BESIDE THE DEAD Nos defauts son nos qualites. One of the reasons I have not been able to pull this cottage together is that I don’t want to remain here. I think to move when the lease expires the end Continue reading Beside The Dead by Rich Quatrone
A RIVER Rather than write about all the women I’ve fucked, as you suggested I’d rather write about all the women I’ve loved. And the women who have broken my heart. You might ask, how many times can a heart Continue reading A River by Rich Quatrone
RICH QUATRONE is a poet and playwright living in Spring Lake, NJ. He was educated at Rutgers College and Mason Gross School of the Arts, both at Rutgers University. He and Lorraine Quatrone founded PASSAIC REVIEW in 1979, inspired by Continue reading Gun Love by Rich Quatrone
IF THEY COME FOR ME Tell them I was here a while, that I loved some good women, but that the ones I loved best left. If they try to break down my door, tell them I wrote a lot Continue reading If They Come For Me by Rich Quatrone