Joseph Cardarelli

Blues for Baltimore, being endless
I always loved this nameless rise
Always loved this lawless high
Always loved by me these sleeping hills
Rolling up from this flat, swampy port
Ultimate harbor of my dry desire.
—Blues for Baltimore, Joe Cardarelli

Poet Joseph Cardarelli was 'the voice of the poet' at Maryland Institute College of Art and an instructor there for twenty eight years. He was the founder of the Spectrum of Poetic Fire Creative Writing Series and the driving force behind the St. Valentine's Day Poetry Marathons. Joseph passed away in August of 1994, but his memory lives on in the hearts and minds of those who knew and loved him and in the Spectrum of Poetic Fire.