Innocent Postcards

<p>John Pietaro's latest collection might be referred to as neo-modernist in its reach-both backward and forward with each phrase a full radical grab. <em>Innocent Postcards</em> recalls the socio-political poison of the red scares 1919 through the Cold War as much as it celebrates visions memories emotions and the fight-back of the century. And still.</p><p><br></p><p>Within you'll ponder black-and-white film and television swoon to Spanish Civil War ballads struggle through the evening news groove to progressive jazz cringe at the headlines and advertisements and ride raucous punk and no wave. Also marvel over seemingly mysterious documents on global spy sensations obtained through the FBI's open vault. The reports on rock stars and the Rowan and Martin <em>Laugh-In</em> show would be purely comical were the level of official ignorance not so repulsive.</p><p><br></p><p>Oh and the title? The innocent postcards overtly sent via airmail included cryptic messaging that might otherwise appear well innocent. You'll also find other tid-bits of the spy vs spy years tucked into these contents. Pay particular attention to the Bureau messages to and from the despotic J. Edgar Hoover.</p><p><br></p><p>None of it should serve as comforting nostalgia.</p><p><br></p><p><em>Innocent Postcards</em> by John Pietaro lucidly and beautifully recalls the moods and realities of Cold War Culture and its impact upon us all today. If as a recent New York Times critic wrote American liberalism after the New Deal ran out of dreams and turned to the Cold War for a convenient enemy we have all suffered immeasurably and may only now be emerging we hope from that long nightmare. Pietaro's poems offer a measure of recovery.-Paul Buhle historian/author/editor <em>Encyclopedia of the American Left Radical Hollywood Blacklisted Hiding in Plain Sight Bohemians SDS: A Graphic History </em>many more.</p><p><br></p><p>Jazz is poetry is history is revolution is jazz. John Pietaro and I had a friend Steve Dalachinsky who hated the expression jazz poet. Pietaro understands why. The pieces in this collection are not jazz poems. They are jazz. They are poetry. They are part of the past and part of the future and we hope part of the revolution.-Puma Perl poet writer journalist and frontwoman of Puma Perl & Friends. Her latest book is <em>Birthdays Before and After</em>.</p><p><br></p><p>John Pietaro's collection <em>Innocent Postcards</em> is not a comforting nostalgia trip but a stark reminder of a turbulent past inviting readers to reflect on the relentless pursuit of justice in the face of Cold War adversity. Written in language that is clear precise and evocative Pietaro explores the untold stories of bold writers musicians actors dancers and visual film and performance artists who risked their careers and lives for justice in a nation founded by and for a select few proving that the past is present in all its poignant triumphs and defeats.-Richard Modiano Director Emeritus Beyond Baroque Foundation and winner of the 2022 Joe Hill Prize for Labor Poetry</p>