Stephen Anderson
CONTACT:
4416 N. Frederick Avenue
Shorewood, WI 53211
Email: stephen.anderson724@gmail.com
BIO:
Stephen Anderson is a Milwaukee poet whose work has appeared in numerous print and online journals including Southwest Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, New Purlieu Review, Free Verse, Verse Wisconsin andFoundling Review. Many of Anderson’s poems have been featured on the Milwaukee NPR-affiliate WUWM Lake Effect Program. He is the author of Montezuma Resurrected And Other Poems (2001) and The Silent Tango of Dreams (2006 chapbook), and several of his poems appeared in the poetry collection, Portals And Piers (2012). In the summer of 2013, six of his poems formed the text for a chamber music composition entitled The Privileged Secrets of the Arch performed by some musicians including two members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and an opera singer. Because of a particular set of life experiences, Anderson considers himself a poet with a global perspective rather than a regional poet. His poetry collection, Navigating in the Sun, was published by Finishing Line Press in July 2015, and his first book-length poetry collection, In The Garden Of Angels And Demons, was published by Aldrich Press/Kelsay Books in March, 2017. His second full-length collection, The Dream Angel Plays The Cello, was published by Aldrich Press/Kelsay Books in February 2019, and his newest poetry collection, High Wire, was published by Kelsay Books in 2021.
PUBLICATIONS:
High Wire (Kelsay Books, 2021) can be ordered directly from the author and is also available at KelsayBooks.com or on Amazon.
The Dream Angel Plays the Cello (2019, Aldrich Press/Kelsay Books), available on Amazon and Kelsey Books.
In the Garden of Angels and Demons, Collection (2017, Aldrich Press/Kelsay Books), can be ordered directly from the author ($17 plus $2.00 S&H) and is also available on Amazon and Kelsey Books.
Navigating in the Sun (2015, Finishing Line Press)
The Silent Tango of Dreams, Chapbook (2006)
Montezuma Resurrected and Other Poems (2001)
Poetry
A Tribute to the Penguin-Men Among Us
who huddle around watching their young ones
take to the ice like the wobbly creatures they are
at outdoor school rinks now lent to these
bundled-up fathers who shift from side to side
and huddle together to stay warm like
looming Emperor Penguins,
while dutifully standing vigil for their
offspring who careen wildly but then
glide like pros for up-to-seconds-at-a-time before
spiraling into impromptu, shaky pirouettes
that cause the men to gasp from the sidelines,
then fake-skate with their shoes
over to the crash site where they whisper
their concern and, upon further triage,
encourage their fallen angels to right their little
skates on the ice, to again take on the
wintry reality of the late afternoon,
with their chins held high to the glory of
the Penguin-Men in attendance.
Of the First Magnitude
Over neighboring and distant
Lands,
Life shimmers in a multitude of colors, often
Connected only by a surface road not a
Path connecting penitent thoughts,
Sorrow, tears, joy or prideful celebrations.
Even though they all see the aurora borealis,
Interpretations may fragment
Into images bred by their own locale—
Beliefs sustaining and bridling but
Which nurture a disconnect that some
May secretly dream of overcoming.
And some do, but gene pools pull tight
Making encounters of the aspirational kind
With the Other a Sisyphean task that only
The boldest of mavericks dare in their
Attempts to reconfigure
What It is.
The only thing remaining
Is to content oneself with
Not knowing everything but
Knowing that things are
Just as they are.