Christopher Citro: “In 1968 Tommy James finished work on his next single for the Shondells. Stumped for a title, he stepped outside on his terrace for a smoke. He saw the Mutual of New York building across the skyline with its name in lights and boom got the title ‘Mony Mony.’ In Syracuse we have a sister to the NYC MONY building, and it flashes the time above where I used to work. One day heading to the newly opened Tim Hortons on my lunch hour for a decaf coffee I looked up in the sky and boom got this poem.” (web)
Christopher Citro: “In our Wegmans, they recently reorganized the produce section. Instead of long vertical lines you can meander up and down as you fondle the avocados and ogle the purple potatoes, it’s all short horizontal rows you have to constantly be turning around and heading back along. People bump into one another’s cart now. Fights appear to be always on the verge of breaking out. I’ve considered buying tomatillos for the first time ever, merely out of a sort of self-defense. I love my local grocery store. It’s where the opening of this poem is set.” (web)