John reads his poem "Intertestamental" from his chapbook Apocrypha. He discusses our present need for spiritual renewal, the benefits of writing our own scripture, and Walt Whitman's American Bible.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

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John reads a passage of “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau. He also discusses what it means to be self-reliant, how to get clean in a corrupt society, and why we can only get clean together.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

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Support Be True: ko-fi.com/johntessitore

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John reads his poem “What Have We Learned.” He discusses the new age of anxiety, his skepticism about advice poems, and our duty to find our own feet first, and fast, before we can help anyone else.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

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John reads his poem “Our Fathers” from his chapbook On Self-Expression After the Revolution. He also discusses generational conflict, Baby Boomer lunacy, and the therapeutic virtues of a “gut poem.”

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

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John reads his poem "Why I Say 'I Love You.'" He also discusses literary inspirations, offers some "pure, sincere, unironic" meditations on love and poetry, and identifies the ultimate poetic coda.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

Support Be True: https://ko-fi.com/johntessitore

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John reads his poem “We were typical boys” from his chapbook All the Lonely American Roads. He also discusses childhood history lessons, competing worldviews, and our big dilemma in the year ahead.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

Support Be True: ko-fi.com/johntessitore

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John reads his poem “Levi” from his forthcoming chapbook Apocrypha. He also discusses Biblical weirdness, the license to create, the radical potential of forgiveness, and stories that shape culture.

John reads his poem “Sunday After Church” from his collection Sometimes I Still Pray. He also discusses “old neighborhood” characters, blues man John Lee Hooker, and what makes a poem a poem.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

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John reads from his novella Jigsaw Men. He also discusses the falseness of seriousness and the importance of humor in writing about big themes and addressing big issues, like environmental collapse.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

Support Be True: ko-fi.com/johntessitore

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John reads his poem “Mazda Marimba” from his chapbook Parchment: A Prayer Quintet. He also discusses art on the margins; world-changing ambition; and the transient, hobo tradition of American culture.

John Tessitore has been a journalist and biographer. He has taught history and literature at colleges around Boston and directed national policy studies on education and civil justice. He serves as Co-Editor Across the Pond for The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. His poems have appeared in a variety of books and journals. In each episode of Be True, he reads and discusses one of his published poems.

www.johntessitore.com

Support Be True: ko-fi.com/johntessitore

Instagram: @jtessitorewriter

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