“For those who may think poetry is obtuse and boring, In Pearl Broth: Poems New &amp; Selected will shake that notion free. Rikki Santer’s poems are chock-full of vibrant language that evokes responses in both the busy mind and the quiet heart of the reader: piffling questions multiply like maggots . . . the mall tilts on its axis . . .we like handcuffing matters down . . . secret bag of caramels in a lingerie drawer . . . little swords of wheat . . . fuzzy-hearted commas . . . a marimba of alchemy . . . canapés of flummery . . . my museum of desperate clues. These poems stopped me in my tracks more than a few times. So moved by “A Swift and Fatal Plunge”, I spent an evening reading about the tragic event that inspired Santer’s stunning narrative. The notes I kept while reading In Pearl Broth will surely serve to inspire my own poem-making.”
-Susan F. Glassmeyer, Invisible Fish; 2018 Ohio Poet of the Year

In Pearl Broth: Poems New and Selected

Literature & Fiction

Santer, Rikki

Poetry

Spartan Press

"Many years ago, when I first traveled through Yellow Springs, Ohio, the home of Antioch College, I felt a strange Twilight-Zone presence in that Sunday-morning vacant town. The inn's proprietor was not surprised because "upstairs Rod Serling taught class." I felt the vibe. Now, I'm catching that vibe again with Rikki Santer's Stopover, her poetic riffs on Sterling's Twilight Zone, which takes the series to another dimension, where the allegories are soft reminders of our humanity, our vulnerability, and our innocence. Our enjoyment is seeing episodes with "no moral, no message, no prophetic tract/just a suit of armor held together by one bolt/call it faith." She soars, for instance, when she shares the bird's-eye view of Mickey Rooney as a washed-up jockey, condensing the aging loser in a prison-like room with "walls closing in as your consonants rattled, your character out of his mind with shortness, neon gel of your ranting, nighty night." Rikki and Rod parse the lonely life of a has-been: Rod's washed-up jockey and Rooney's seedy actor with "frayed pockets: king high, ace low." In her cento poem, she uses Serling's voice in a fantastic world full of question marks and leavened by the possibility but never the reality of bromides. Rikki Santer's poetic appreciation of The Twilight Zone series embraces for our consideration cynicism about our intentions and unconditional love for our imperfection. Enter her lyrical zone to enjoy Serling's simple tales as the stuff of poetry. If you think humankind to be masterfully in charge, then Rikki and Rod will remind you that we are doomed to be served on a platter by those who know we deserve it." -John DeSando, producer and host of It'sMovie Time and Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take for NPR's WCBE 90.5 FM, Columbus, Ohio.

Stopover

Luchador Press

Rushing Thru the Dark: Autumn 2022

Brisendine, Steve

PIERCY, Marge

Whitman-Bradley, Buff

Press, Choeofpleirn

Hansell, Susan

Heller, Janet Ruth

Sklar, Daniel

Cappello, Joe

Uyeno, Gerald

Literary

Independently published

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Books by Santer, Rikki