I stopped reading yesterday
stopped cold
just like that
the book in hand
was by Elio Vittorini
but it wasn’t that
or Orhan Veli
or Su Tung-p’o
or Mark Strand
or Anna Ahkmatova
no, it wasn’t them
or anyone else
it was this sadness
hovering over me
and the books
didn’t help
so I stopped
cold turkey
had 2 shots
of whiskey
sat on the balcony
looked up at the sky
watched the gulls
who came calling
then got up
went out for some fresh pasta
a bottle of wine
and mostly drunk
came home
picked up a book
again
and ended my foolishness
closed my eyes
fell asleep
with books
beside me
reading themselves
my dear friends
A brilliant poem. And those books! Yes, dear friends.
Thanks, Robert. And so they are.
I’ll get back to you on that when my head stops spinning. I’m thinking about Israel and Gaza. No, actually it just came to me, Read Robert Frost, A Masque of Reason.
I’ll see if I can find it online somewhere. I know it has to do with God & Job & his wife but that’s all I know.