The Native of Swoyersville publishes two books with minimalist poetry-Wilkes-barre citizens

When the coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, born in, born, Swoyersville, had published 39 books on his loans. Now, 14 months later, he is up to 41 with the publication of his latest books by minimalist or short form, poetry: “Present Tensse” and “Do not shoot the messenger: just give it a good place to hide it”.

Although it may seem strange to compare the writing of poetry with the work in cabbage, the author of 3,500 published poems attributes his productive performance of the strong working morality, which he grew up in the Wyoming valley. At the age of 74, Yamrus is not finished with writing. He works on it every day.

Today Yamrus lives near Reading with his almost 50 -year -old wife, the former Kathy Jaken, whom he met between his junior and senior years at the Central Catholic High School in Kingston.

Yamrus became aware of the public for the first time in 2018, in a review of his book “Memory Lane” a memoir about growing up in Swoyersville in a doubtful section of the Oliver Street, a neighborhood of the veterinarians of World War II and coal mountains, lead-to-house-mothers and Polish-language uncle, aun and grandparents. In “Memory Lane” he wrote about the neighborhood characters like Black Mary, the terrible hermit whose look was offered to make boys in stone

Within one year he published “RMA” for Remember Me Always, a popular high school yearbook. In “RMA”, the reader walks along his road to the side street with Yamrus. On the way we learn who lived in the creepy house, about an altar Boys' Bell Ringing Contest, Gumpys Bar and Killer Hill.

Yamrus viewed the books as two sections of the same book – one from a walk on Oliver, the other a walk – and after the original publisher went on business during the Covid, Yamrus found a publisher who combined the books in a band called “The Street”.

His latest book “Not Shoot the Messenger: just give him a good place to hide” is only 56 pages, including 41 pages of his funny and sometimes unfathomable poems.

Some poems are about writing and poems themselves, but in the opening poem he returns to an old favorite subject, his youth district in Swoyersville, to write over a long time and to complain about the oak tree that he and the friend used to climb. The tree was fallen for a new street.

It ends like this:

the street

smooth and new

And there is nothing

Give yourself

Every shadow or

Even a reason for the climb

He likes to use the opening words of his poems as their titles. For example from the last poem in the book.

Poetry is

No science …

The

Truth is not

A secret for the few …

And

this dog

sleep in the sun

Has it

Everything found out.

You can read the 22 poems in “Not Shoot the Messenger” in 10 to 15 minutes. Then put it down, but don't put it away. Keep it at hand and go back to it. Read the poems again and think of them. It's fun.

Yamrus has a weakness in his heart for Swoyersville, the valley and pizza.

“We come into the valley a few times a year,” he wrote in an e -mail. “We were only there two weeks ago … We always talk about the pizza at home. The whole pizza here is good, but there is no real individuality, not as if they come in the valley where our favorites are always sabatical, grotto and winning pigs. But there is really no bad pizza from the valley. We also loved Carl's and Fort Cafe and Pizza L'Oven and Savoy. “

To find Yamrus' books, look for “John Yamrus” on Amazon.