|
SEAN NEVIN |
| A House That Falls | |
| 2005 |
| "...The
clarity and precision of a nearly volumeless speech mark the brilliant stanzas
of this chapbook that records the mysteries and the terrible binding that
come with Alzheimer's—Nevin is such a stunning and courageous writer." —Norman Dubie |
Losing Solomon
We
estimate a man by how much he remembers.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Things seem to take on
a sudden shimmer
before vanishing: the polished black loafers
he wore yesterday, the reason for climbing
the stairs, even the names of his own children
are swallowed like spent
stars against the dark
vault of memory. Today the toaster gives up
its silver purpose in his hands, becomes a radio,
an old Philco blaring a ball game from the 40's
with Jackie Robinson squaring up to the plate.
For now, it's simple; he
thinks he is young again,
maybe nineteen, alone in a kitchen. He is staring
through his own reflection in the luster and hoping
against hope that Robinson will clear the bases
with a ball knocked so far over the stadium wall
it becomes a pigeon winging up into the brilliance.
And
perhaps, in one last act of alchemy,
as Jackie sails around third, he will transform
everything, even the strange and forgotten face
glaring back from the chrome, into something
familiar, something Solomon could know as his own.
2005 Slapering Hol Press
Chapbook Contest winner,
Sean Nevin, will read on Monday, March 31, 2008 at the
Cornelia Street
Cafe with 2006 winner Mary Kaiser
and 2007 winner Stephanie Lenox.