MY LAST RESUME: NEW & COLLECTED POEMS
1971-1980 / 1999-2023

Book drops on November 21, 2023

“I just love Joe Di Prisco’s poems. They move with lightness and grace, arriving again and again at the joy of surprise. They have humor, wisdom, sorrow, joy, love. I would say they have no fucks to give, but they actually give a fuck about everything. To have the best of his work in one book is a real treasure.”

—Matthew Zapruder, Story of a Poem and Father’s Day

Here are videos from one more SRO reading from My Last Resume:

 

Favorite Reads of 2023 from Diablo Writers’ Workshop

Favorite book of poetry: My Last Resume. I saw Joe read from this collection at Orinda Books in conversation with poet Matthew Zapruder. Di Prisco's poetry is easy to get swept away in, with a lulling rhythm in many poems that always land somewhere unexpected and delightful. A gorgeous read. -Janine de Boisblanc

My Last Resume by Joseph Di Prisco

When I was a troubadour
When I was an astronaut
When I was a pirate
You should have seen my closet
You would have loved my shoes.
Kindly consider my application
Even though your position is filled.
This is my stash of snow globes
This is my favorite whip
This is a picture of me with a macaw
This is a song I almost could sing.
When I was a freight train
When I was a satellite
When I was a campfire
You should have seen the starburst
You should have tasted my tomato.
I feel sorry for you I’m unqualified
This is my finest tube of toothpaste
This is when I rode like the raj on a yak
This is the gasoline this is the match.
When I was Hegel’s dialectic
When I was something Rothko forgot
When I was moonlight paving the street
You should have seen the roiling shore
You should have heard the swarm of bees.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/146939/my-last-resume

Joseph Di Prisco is the acclaimed author of prize-winning poetry, bestselling memoirs, nonfiction, and novels. He taught for many years and has served as chair of not-for-profits dedicated to the arts, theater, children’s mental health, and schools. In 2015, he founded New Literary Project, a not-for-profit driving social change and unleashing artistic power, investing in writers across generations from neglected, overlooked communities. He also directs NewLit’s annual Joyce Carol Oates Prize, awarded to mid-career authors of fiction, and is Series Editor of the annual anthology Simpsonistas: Tales from New Literary Project. Born in Brooklyn, he grew up in Greenpoint and then in Berkeley. He and his family now live in Lafayette, California.

Santiago Mejia / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris