Luncheon Lecture

By Doug Tanoury

As the keynote speaker begins talking

about a risk management framework

for AI ecosystems,

I remember her nearness

and fragrance as I kissed her neck

between where the earlobe ends

like Tierra del Fuego

at the Straits of Magellan

and her shoulder begins

tapering downhill like the

Indian Sub-Continent

beneath the Himalayas

slopes toward the sea.

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Doug Tanoury is a lifelong poet whose work has appeared widely in both print and online journals. He is the author of more than twenty chapbooks, including St. Mary’s Art Cloister, Tolstoy’s Ghost, and Chicago Poems. An outsider artist by circumstance and choice, Tanoury writes outside the academic tradition, bringing a distinct voice shaped by lived experience rather than formal literary training.

He holds a BBA and has spent much of his professional life as a management consultant, a background that informs the clarity and structure underlying his work. His poetry often explores themes of place, memory, spirituality, and the emotional landscapes of urban life with a lilting lyricism, particularly in and around Detroit.

Tanoury continues to write and submit new work, maintaining a steady presence in contemporary poetry while remaining independent of academic affiliation.