It is a pleasure to sit in a quiet place and read Galleria by John Petrolino. Many of these poems I have heard while accompanying John in readings we have done together, but even if I didn’t know or ever have had the chance to hear his outstanding renditions of his own work, I could hear his voice just by reading what he put down on paper Like two other merchant seamen who influenced my earlier life, my uncle David Amram and Jack Kerouac, John Petrolino’s poetry expresses the introspection and keen observation that all who go to sea develop in their writing. Like Jack London and Herman Melville, he knows how to tell a story and make you feel part of it On Petrolino’s Writing By Poet Frank Messina: John Petrolino’s writing comes from a man at sea both literally and figuratively; a man who travels the world in a constant quest of discovery and self-examination, observing from a distance, from a vessel off-shore. Off-shore from the mainland, but so close to the heart of America. His work reveals the vulnerability of men. The struggle to balance a life of hard work, love and the meaning of life.