Wake and sing
Christ is near
Praise Him with your voices.
Rise and hear
Christ is near
The whole world rejoices.
A former metropolitan New York college professor, John Lawrence Darretta taught in the Communication Arts and English departments at Iona University. He holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from Fordham University. As Fulbright Professor to Italy, he taught at universities in Milan and Turin. He studied at the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin and The American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Dr. Darretta has published books and articles on literature and film. He is author of Vittorio DeSica (G. K. Hall), Before the Sun Has Set: Retribution in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor (Peter Lang Publishing), and Sacred Senses in Sacred Space (Gatekeeper Press). His poetry has been published by America Magazine, Penwood Review, Journal of Pastoral Counseling, Haiku Journal, The Catholic Poetry Room, and other venues. His poetry books, Nature’s Wheel and Here and Now, Then and There, have been published recently by Kelsay Books.