Placemats by Ken Pobo

"Kenneth Pobo likes to pun, evident foremost in the title of this chapbook: Placemats. These are no ordinary tablesettings, though, because the table herein is more that of a hobby-train table, set up to transport readers on a continuous journey of surprising destinations; each 'place'mat serves up a regional vignette of simple, flashing images for us poetry-dining tourists to sample, accompanied by the poet’s clear-spoken memories and ruminations. Pobo’s punning charm and shrewd insights into personality lead readers though these rail-side attractions, often 'pointing both ways at once,' and elevating unexpected moments into emerging 'stars popping out of rock' in 'millions of exquisite, shining pieces.'"

~Eve Anthony Hanninen, poet, writer, and editor of The Centrfugal Eye

About the author: Ken Pobo has published four poetry collections and sixteen chapbooks. His work has appeared in: Indiana Review, Nimrod, Mudfish, The Fiddlehead, Hawaii Review, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing and English at Widener University in Pennsylvania. He enjoys gardening, surrealism, cats, and sixties pop music. Catch his radio show, “Obscure Oldies,” on Saturdays from 6-8:30 P.M. at wdnrfm.org.