Bill Berkson's Dante-Inspired Poem for Oona Ratcliffe's 2009 New York Exhibition

Bill Berkson, a poet and critic, penned a poem named 'Paolo and Francesca' for the POETRY FOR ART series, which was initiated in reaction to Oona Ratcliffe's exhibition 'Deep Forgetting' at gallerynine5 in New York City. This exhibition took place from March 6 to 24, 2009, at 24 Spring Street. Berkson's work reinterprets a segment from Dante Alighieri's 'Inferno,' centering on the ill-fated lovers Paolo and Francesca from Canto 5 of the second circle. Ratcliffe, an artist from Brooklyn, has exhibited at various venues, including Susan Inglett Gallery and the Bolinas Museum. In 2005, she was honored with a Janet Sloane Residency Award from Yaddo. Berkson, who divides his time between San Francisco and New York, has recently published several works, including 'Sudden Address: Selected Lectures 1981-2006' and 'Portrait and Dream: New & Selected Poems.' In 2008, he received the Goldie for Literature from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The POETRY FOR ART series features new poetry that interacts with the works of contemporary artists in New York and beyond.