Poet William Kemmett was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His poems have appeared in numerous poetry magazines and journals, including Yankee Magazine, Cimarron Review, Defined Providence, Poetry Australia, Poetry East, Gargoyle, Mother India, Seattle Review, Calliope, The Café Review, Iowa Source, The Contemporary Review, and Hanging Loose.
He is the recipient of awards from the Massachusetts Artists Foundation and the New England Poetry Club and has won two Yankee Magazine poetry prizes. He studied poetry at Harvard University and holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Norwich University. The author of two full-length books from Igneus Press—Flesh of a New Moon (1991) and Hole in the Heart (2001)—he is also the author of Black Oil (2009, Dead “C” Press) in addition to several chapbooks published by Igneus Press and Wampeter Press. He currently teaches English and writing at Indian River State College and lives with his wife in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Nana and Me (circa 1942)
I was six eating bread-
pudding. I made a face with
two eyes, one raisin too
big and not enough
syrup to paint a smile.
Eat, Nana said, they’re starving
in Europe. I finished the last
spoonful and she nodded
her approval, as if my small body
could save all of Italy.