Venice Comes Clean

In her collection of poetry, "Venice Comes Clean," Victoria Garton captures the dazzle of a midwestern family exploring the wonders of Venice. In her poem "La Bibliotheca at San Giorgio Maggiore" she promises on the effigy of Janus to share the view with her readers from "both ways." Her spectacular imagery invites us to share her views of Venice as teacher, mother and wife, and again as poet and traveler. She captures the light on the water, the flutter of wings, the statues both high and low, with the same power as the watercolors that accompany her writing. Beautiful hand painted illustrations by the poet's son, John Garton, echo Victoria's verses so that nothing so small as lightness of the foam "on a cappuccino" is lost, and nothing so high as St. Sebastian looking down from his pedestal is missing. This chapbook of art and poetry beautifully captures the cleansing procession of beauty that is Venice. And as we experience Venice in the rain, "It comes/ under windowsills/ to pool on floors near art...rinsing the dingy piazza," reader's too will "doubleback from deadends" and find themselves refreshed in the light.