Swift River Ballad

Thomas DeFreitas was born in Boston, was educated at the Boston Latin School, and attended the University of Massachusetts in Boston and in Amherst. His poems have appeared in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Dappled Things, Ibbetson Street, Pensive, Plainsongs, Red Letter Poems, and elsewhere.

Thomas’s poem “Chasing the Waves” was chosen by Arlington (MA) Poet Laureate Cathie Desjardins to be part of the Talking Chair Project, an interactive poetry exhibit installed during April 2018 at the Robbins Library in Arlington. In the summer of 2019, “Detox” was chosen as an Award Poem by the editors of Plainsongs. Thomas’s début collection, Winter in Halifax, was published by Kelsay Books in 2021. The following year, Kelsay released Thomas’s second poetry book, Longfellow, Tell Me.

Several hymns with words by Thomas DeFreitas and music by Patrick Michaels (“Her Name Is Grace”; “Restore Our Life”) have recently been performed as part of the eucharistic liturgy at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

A resident of Arlington, Massachusetts since 2010, Thomas is an associate member of the Academy of American Poets. He is also active in the New England Poetry Club, Boston’s Black Seed Writers’ Group, and Arlington’s Bee Hive Poets.

Website:
thomasdefreitas.me

Paperback: 46 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (August 5, 2023)

Reviews:
Doug Holder
The Somerville Times