Frank De Canio's Political Ponderings are an arresting array of the usual suspects: sex, love, loss, longing, salient stages on Life's way, all here in a foursquare arrangement, as metrically precise as their content is sometimes emotionally charged. They seem to be a litany of Frank's psychological preoccupations as post-adolescent perspectives wrapped up in a neat package of formal poems to pique the astute reader's sensibilities. A pleasing read indeed.

From the refreshingly quirky to the humorous, poignant and erotic; from politics to philosophy to the playfully perverse, through sonnet forms, the villanelle and prose poems, Frank’s oeuvre is a treasure chest of nursed musings framed in verse. These are the measured scribblings of a person confronting an unfolding world as he assesses it with literary flair. In these poems there’s love, loss, birth, pique and reconciliation. There’re bawdy fancies and vexing ones. There’re pop culture ruminations, cultural allusions and emotional contusions. He’s got the whole whirlwind of feelings in his writer’s hand as he presents us with a smorgasbord of imagistic fruits. There are lords and swords and bawds in his vocabulary of interests, as well as quotidian encounters. We find a dialectic between a lump in his throat, as Frost has put it, and the written word. A very agreeable way to spend your spare afternoons.

Frank’s poems are presented to the reader like a bouquet of flowers of various hues and breeds. Some exude the fragrance of roses, and others conjure up thistles. They were planted in the soil of youth and watered with the trials of early adulthood, where they were plucked out of the pages of the earth after enduring storm and stress. Some are as prickly as cacti, others as gay and playful as dandelions. They touch on his early probes into psychology, philosophy, pop culture and his burgeoning awareness of those primordial drives that inform us all with their rude awakening. All of them seem anchored to some sort of conceit that make them entertaining formally as well as textually. They emerge as fallible as human nature despite their at times didactic appearance. So enjoy this big bouquet of poesies.

Hypothetical ponderings of Odysseus (Ulysses) as he struggles to return to Ithaca after the Trojan war. He’s at odds with Poseidon (Neptune), the sea god, (for having blinded his son, the one-eyed monster, Polyphemus),and his own licentious leanings that are aggravated by separation from his wife, Penelope.

The 6" x 9" perfect bound ISBN# book "Wake Up and Smell the Flowers" (with cover art by John Yotko) was originally released as the 5.5" x 8.5" perfect bound April 2011 issue (v093) of "Down in the Dirt" magazine, published by Scars Publications. Writers and artists included in this issue are Fritz Hamilton, Frank De Canio, John Ragusa, Ben Macnair, T.G. Schoenberg, Sarah Mallery, Tony Brown, Valerie Goodwine, Razsaveh Richardson, Micah Thorstenson, Janet Kuypers, Danielle Bredy, Richard Shelton, Mark Murphy, Robert Levin, John Atkinson, Dion Beary, Ryan G. Beckman, Chris Schafer, and Steve Baba. with cover art by John Yotko.

"Sea Drift" is a 2014 Scars Publications cc&d magazine (249.8, a 21 year bonus anniversary issue/book) poetry and short story book by assorted writers and artists. "Children, Churches and Daddies" (AKA cc&d, subtitle "the UN-religios, NON-family oriented literary and art magazine) has been printed in many forms since it's inception in 1994, but starting in 2014 cc&d is being released every other month as a 6"x9" perfect-bound paperback book, with not only it's usual ISSN# (ISSN# 1068-5154), but also an ISBN#. In honor of the 2014 ISBN# issue/book releases, all issues now carry a title to accompany the new format, reflecting the writing inside the book and the cover design.This bonus 2014 21 year anniversary release issue/book from cc&d highlights the 19 year anniversary issue of cc&d (v233), plus bonus 2014 poetry literally about children, churches and daddies. Cover art from this magazine / book is from the original v233 magazine cover, of a stack of crabs fo sale at the Fisherman's Wharf - San Francisco's Historical Fishing District, in honor of cancer being the astrological sign that start during the anniversary month for cc&d (photographed 9/13/09). Writers and artists in this book include S. Progress, Brian Looney, David Thompson, Michael Ceraolo, W. Donta Andrews, Holly Day, Frank De Canio, John Newmark, R. N. Taber, Joseph Hart, Lily Gardner, I.B. Rad, CEE, Dan Fitzgerald, Dana Stamps, II, Oz Hardwick, Devon Sova, William Robison, Doug Draime , R.F. Jordan, Corey Cook, Richard King Perkins II , Bruce Matteson, Michael Lee Johnson, Janet Kuypers, Jenene Ravesloot, Daniel S. Weinberg, Lennart Lundh, Derrick Sherwin, Fritz Hamilton, Ronald M. Wade, Robert D. Lyons, Brian Duggan, John Duncklee, Stephen V. Ramey, Christine Barba, Yasmin Ramirez, Wm. Samuel Bradford, and Joshua Copeland, and artwork by Uzeyir Lokman CAYCI, Brian Forres, Aaron Wilder, Eric Bonholtzer, Edward Michael O'Durr Supranowicz, Henry Walter Matthews, Rose E. Grier, Oz Hardwick, Cheryl Townsend, Peter LaBerge, David Michael Jackson, and the HA!man of South Africa.

"The Mission" is a poetry book based on the May through August 2012 issues (and occasional Internet chapbook releases) of cc&d magazine (byline: "the UNreligious, NON-family oriented literary and at magazine," founded 1993, http: //scars.tv/ccd) into this poetry and prose (and very occasionally artwork), published by Scars Publications. "The Mission" was also released not only as an "issues edition" (of the majority of the writings appearing in issues) and a "chapbooks edition" (of the chapbook releases during this period, plus select bonus writings from the issues). This chapbooks edition of "the Mission" contains not only material that was used in performance art shows in Chicago during the May-August 2012 period, but also chapbooks that were even released into 6"x9" ISBN# paperback BOOKS, plus select additions from some of the issues of cc&d magazine. The cover art of this collection book was photographed in Chicago in 2011 (and the color was changed for different editions). See http: //scrs.tv for a full list of all contributors to this collection book.

"After the Blues" is a 2016 poetry and prose collection book from Scars Publications (http://scars.tv) of the July through December 2015 issues of cc&d magazine (http://scars.tv/ccd). Writers and artists included in this book are Charles Hayes, CEE, Patrick Fealey, Xanadu, Brian Looney, A.S. Coomer, Frank De Canio, Aaron Wilder (art), Jane Stuart, Shane, David Russell (art), Janet Kuypers, the HA!Man of South Africa (art), Donal Mahoney, DC Diamondopolous, Beaumont Sebos, Edward Michael O'Durr Supranowicz (art), Bernard Otto, Uzeyir Lokman cayci (art), Don Maurer, Kyle Hemmings (art), Richard Schnap, Marc Livanos, Delilah Prosperousrose Mela, Robin Wyatt Dunn, Michael Lee Johnson, Wes Heine (art), Michael Ceraolo, Susan J. Rogers, Erren Kelly, Rose E. Grier art , JoyAnne O'Donnell, M. L. Thompson, Drew Marshall, Steven K. Smith, Lisa Gray, Nora McDonald, Donal Mahoney, MCD, Simon Easton, David J. Thompson and Cara Losier Chanoine.

"Purpose" is a poetry book based on the May through July-August 2011 issues of Down in the Dirt magazine (the magazine "revealing all your dirty little secrets", founded 2000 though originally a section in cc&d magazine in 1994,, http://scars.tv/dirt) into this poetry and prose (and very occasionally artwork), published by Scars Publications. The cover art of this collection book was photographed in Chicago in 2011. Writers in this collection book inlcude Janet Kuypers, Tom Ball, Chad D. Barber, Matthew T. Birdsall, Elena Botts, Wm. Samuel Bradford, Rex Bromfield, Jon Brunette, Mark Breckenridge, Eric Burbridge, Brandi Capozzi, Gibson Culbreth, Derek A Davis, Frank De Canio, Kenneth DiMaggio, Steve Dodd, Travis Green, Nathan Hahs, Fritz Hamilton, Rod Hamon, Christopher Hanson, Kathleen Hennessey, Cheryl Hicks, Matt Hlinak, Eric Holden, Ruth Juris, James Kowalczyk, Jennifer E. Lee , Kathryn Leetch, Joseph Lisowski, Brian Looney, Sarah Lucille Marchant, Denny E. Marshall, William Masters, John Constantine Mastor, Kristopher Miller, Jeffrey Park, Steven Pelcman, Donna Pucciani, John Ragusa, J. D. Riso, Amanda Ronan, Daniel J Roozen, Larry Schug, Ian C Smith, Liam Spencer, Bob Strother, Lori Ulrich, Clinton Van Inman, Kerry Lown Whalen, Donald C. White Jr., Changming Yuan and Eleanor Leonne Bennett.

"Being Real" is a 2016 Scars Publications' cc&d magazine (v264) poetry and short story book by assorted writers and artists. "Children, Churches and Daddies" (AKA cc&d, subtitle "the UN-religious, NON-family oriented literary and art magazine) has been printed in many forms since it's inception in 1993, but since 2014 cc&d has been released every other month (with bonus issues) as a 6"x9" perfect-bound paperback book, with not only it's usual ISSN# (print ISSN# 1068-5154, Internet ISSN# 1555-1555), but also an ISBN#. With ISBN#s for issue/book releases, all issues now carry a title to accompany the new format, reflecting the writing inside the book and the cover design. Writers and artists in this book include A.S. Coomer, Beaumont Sebos, Bernard Otto, Brian Looney, CEE, Charles Hayes, David Russell, DC Diamondopolous, Don Maurer, Edward Michael O'Durr Supranowicz (with art), Francois le Roux (with art), Frank De Canio, Kyle Hemmings (with art), Michael Shane Reardon, Aaron Wilder (with art), Nora McDonald, Patrick Fealey, Uzeyir Lokman Cayci (with art), and Xanadu.