Born in Orange, N.J. in 1942, youngest of seven in an Irish-American family of cops, priests, and politicians, Lally started out playing piano and reading his poetry in coffeehouses and bars in 1959. By 1980 he wrote twenty books, including the poetry collection Rocky Dies Yellow (1974) and a collection of prose and poetry, Catch My Breath (1978). After creating several poetry reading series in D.C., New York, and L.A. in the 1970s and '80s, Lally was declared "The Godfather of Poetry" by several magazines, newspapers and fellow poets.


From "It's Not Nostalgia--It's Always There":

Mayday means a lot to me
– processions with a
statue of Our Lady &
the girls in white dresses
scattering flowers all
the way--speeches by
the priests against the
Commies who were
having their own parades –
and theirs all started in
Chicago & the fight for
the 8-hour-day – ours in
the forests of Europe &
the worshipping of May
as the start of the good
times of Spring & Summer


Visit Michael Lally's blog: http://lallysalley.blogspot.com/