Janet Hamill: Choice of the week [ed. Terence Winch]

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when it snowed

It was almost holy when it snowed

waiting for Santa at Sears

for a photo in plaid coat & mittens

the real one was at Macy’s in Herald Square

Waiting for Santa at Sears

Daddy took us to pick the tree

the real one was at Macy’s in Herald Square

crowned with folded feathered wings of an angel

Daddy took us to pick the tree

I need a holster for two pistols and a saxophone

crowned with folded feathered wings of an angel

our house Silent Night & Blue Light

I need a holster for two pistols and a saxophone

when we’re done with the carol on Ryeside

our house Silent Night & Blue Light

it was almost holy when it snowed

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In May 2022, Janet Hamill was inducted into the Inaugural 100th Anniversary Hall of Fame in her hometown of New Milford, NJ in the Arts & Letters category. She is the author of ten books, most recently A Map of the Heavens: Selected Poems 1975-2017 (Spuyten Duyvil, NY, 2020) and Baby Parade (Vehicle Editions, NY, 2022), and is a recipient of Publishers Weekly Book of the Year and Pushcart price. Hamill has collaborated with poets and musicians Bob Holman, Maureen Owen, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye and Moving Star, artists/photographers Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Tisa and Michael Sypulski. Influenced by Surrealism, Hamill was an active member of the Seligmann Committee attempting to make the Swiss-American surrealist’s home in Sugar Loaf, NY a protected site.

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