Paul Violi's work in Breakers shows imagination, wit and sincerity. He tackles subjects such as family and age pondering his fortieth birthday in "Little Testament" to travel in "Harmatan", a play by play of talking severed heads in "Little Nasty" and dreams and writing in "The Curious Builder". An amazing facet of Violi's work is his ability to keep the poetry fresh, exciting and on the edge for long poems. For example, "Little Testament" is 19 pages and "Harmantan" is 55 pages. Violi has the amazing talent of being able to go back and forth between the abstract and the concrete -- perhaps best demonstrated in "Sputter and Blaze". Perhaps the best way to describe Violi's work is that of a play by play announcer who tackles ridiculous topics yet is able to show a deeper meaning and care toward the human condition as a whole. Along with "Little Nasty", Violi demonstrates this with a crossword puzzle on "Wet Bread and Roasted Pearls" and with a museum from selections of "Hazards of Imagery".
Maybe Violi's work speaks best for itself, he writes in "coda":
I lie in parentheses
amused by how I can trace
in the glistening lines of this canoe
such a dear part of you
and between night and day
sweep up an armful of immediate odes
imagining I can lay them
before you . . .

Call Violi postmodern or modern, but he is a contemporary poet who has found a voice that is distinctly his own. His poetry is art yet from seeing him read and in reading his poems out loud there is a distinct tone that makes them pleasing to both the eye on the page and the ear as the words pass by.

Breakers is an impressive and memorable anthology of Paul Violi's poetry and aptly serves to introduce and make accessible some of his best work to a broader audience than would be otherwise possible. At The Chapel Cardinal Finale: Here is a painting on wood/by an unknown hand,/of hearty fishermen in an open boat,/hauling a cow out of the Bay of Naples./This painting smells:/an unfortunate odor no one/can eradicate or name.//Here, too, is a painting of the savior/from whose eyes many have attested/they have seen real tears fall./And I for one believe it to be so./For I have heard this said/of other paintings/and recalling how they are all/so unbelievably bad,/so poorly executed,/I have concluded that it is/the painters' utter ineptitude/that has made their very subject weep./Such is the miraculous power of art.

Paul violi is a magical man and a magical poet. His poems exude his unique awareness of humor, conflict, sadness, and thoughtful experience that only this man could capture in words. If you are ever in the new york city area, keep your head to the ground for a reading by Mr. Violi. Every so often, he can be found at one location or another reading his work. In person, he is even more fascinating than his poems let on. Also, he just came out with a new book of poems called Fracas, which is amazing. GO GET IT!

Very satirical and funny..he's my handsome brother