Into the Dance

Al Basile is a lifelong singer-songwriter and poet. His poems feature the rhythm of meter, and the sound of the words is musical as well, with and without rhyme, and his sensibility is naturally metaphoric. It's especially evident when you hear him read from his work; he is a musical performer with or without his band. Into the Dance is his fourth 100 poem collection. There is a strong vein of poetic memoir in his work; many narratives are drawn from a long life in and out of music performing and recording. There are many poetic essays as well, where he speaks of the physical world and human nature with a scientist's eye derived from his early training in physics. And there is often a hidden desire to teach what he has learned from life, as he had a long career as a teacher as well. He offers a personal version of acquired wisdom that comes out in the dance with form and is intensified by that partnership.