Lifelong Bostonian Liam Day recently released “Afforded Permanence,” a collection of poems that reflects a lifetime of experience riding on MBTA bus routes.
Readers of “Afforded Permanence” will travel through the life of a Bostonian in experience and thought.
Day, 42, was born in an Irish-American home in West Roxbury and now lives with his wife on Jones Hill. He began writing poetry during graduate study at Middlebury College and continued at the craft because, he says, “In many ways writing is a type of therapy.”
Before earning his master’s in English literature, Day studied American history at Harvard. Currently, he is the Partnership Director of Codman Academy Public Charter School in Dorchester and the sports editor of The Good Men Project, an e-zine dedicated to “[collecting] men’s stories about the defining moments in men’s lives.” The intermingling of interests that have forged Day’s career contributed, he says, to “Afforded Performance“ by providing a sociological lens.
As reviewed by Mary Pirard, the author of the poetry collection “Portal,” Day’s work contains “details that chart the pleasures and complexities of urban life. [It] is the best, most necessary kind of map.”
Maybe that was why Aforementioned Publications approached Day about writing “Afforded Permanence” after just four of his original poems were published in their online publication, apt.
Several poems discuss Boston’s evolution over the decades. “Dorchester” is a dialogue between the old and new of the neighborhood. “Allston” alludes to Day’s experiences after graduate school “where so many young graduates end up going.”
The collection is partly dedicated to his parents and their dreams of a better life for their children. He says this poetry is in many ways a “mea culpa” for the pitfalls of his undergraduate years and hopefully “a first step towards fulfilling that dream.”
The book is also dedicated to Day’s wife Nicole, whose “idea for a series of poems about different bus routes it was in the first place.” Around 2011, Day wrote a poem on MBTA bus #77 called “The Last Record Store.” She encouraged him to continue the theme with other bus routes.
Day hopes that after reading “Afforded Permanence,” MBTA riders will be more aware of it. He said, “Don’t just put your headphones on and block out the world on your commute. Look around and see what’s happening on the bus, see what’s happening outside the bus. Be engaged.”
“Afforded Permanence” can be purchased at sbdbooks.org, Brookline Booksmith, Harvard Square Bookstore and will be coming soon to the Dot2Dot Cafe.