Joe Gonnella

“An Irish Airman foresees his Death

I Know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love,
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.”
― William Butler Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole

“This story was a story of our time. And a writer's attempts not to fathom his time amount but to sounding his mind in it.”
― Louis Zukofsky, Collected Fiction

“The more the words of others impressed him with their factual content, the more he felt he must wait for his own facts before being tempted into words.”
― Louis Zukofsky, Collected Fiction

“What I like more than anything is to visit other islands...”
― George Oppen