by Valerie M. Griggs

The thing about an LP—
I’ll get back to that—
An LP orbits around its own soul,
black valences charged
by a diamond needle.
Static click pop
out spins the music
into the listener’s landscape.
But what’s moving about an LP,
the thing about an LP
is its singularity:
track order, liner notes,
lyrics, labels, photos—
out of a black hole, comes a secondary world.
You know it as you listen,
you know it as you sing.

Valerie M. Griggs enjoys being a part of the vibrant community of poets in Long Island. Reading venues range from coffee houses, public libraries, and bars, to the Walt Whitman birthplace museum and college campuses. In 1985, studying with John Ashbury and William Matthews, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College. During the summer of 1992, Valerie taught English at Qinghua University in Beijing. She returned to China in 1993 to teach in Shanghai and in 1995 to teach in Jiangyang. Aside from poetry, Valerie has published inspirational articles in Alive Now! and weekly devotionals in The Upper Room. Beginning in 2000, Valerie has explored writing songs and performing at open mics. She has recorded three original music CDs: Around the Far Turn (2009), Wings Are Waiting (2011) and For Now (2015). Currently, Valerie works as a full-time writing consultant and adjunct English instructor at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York.