About a decade ago, I belonged to a writing group and one of the members was Patrick O'Leary who had written several rather distinctive novels. But he also wrote poetry and the poem he read that night (which was about out group) seems especially appropriate in the times of a pandemic.
THE BIG THING AT THE END, Patrick O'Leary
The one time I ever fainted
she said
I was furious when they woke me
We laughed that laugh
when you want to hold someone
& say Yes I know yes Yes it’s awful
& it may not get better
but we laughed instead
& someone said my friend
was dying from an overdose of penicillin
& he felt nothing but ecstasy
& another said yes
my friend felt the same
when she was drowning
on a perfect summer day
& someone asked what possible
evolutionary purpose
could such a reprieve serve?
Couldn’t it all be random?
But it nagged us nonetheless
that in our final passage
we might go gently
& I noticed no one dared
to tender the possibility of
a merciful manager of
survival dispensing relief
though that is what some of us
actually believe or hope
& then our friend whose mother
had survived the camps said
Perhaps it’s not for us
but for the predator
rewarding his catch
by pacifying his prey
(who after all is caught)
hastening the transition
from creature to meal
This seemed so shocking
& apt it silenced us
on this lovely evening when
we huddled around
our civilized fire
of coffee cheese & crackers
telling stories of precipices
reassuring the tribe
with tales of great escapes
thrilling chases & close calls
which if one is honest
form the spine of all story
& I believe each of us
became aware
for the briefest moment
of that larger thing
hovering outside
in the brutal winter
& the darker dark
who occasionally listened in
on our little group
of story makers
sometimes observing
our lively heads chatting
in the golden windows
of the night
& thought
Let them talk
Let them talk their heads off
Patrick O'Leary's books
- Door Number Three (1995)
- The Gift (1998) – nominated for the World Fantasy Award
- Other Voices, Other Doors (collection) (2000)
- The Impossible Bird (2002)
- "The Cane" (2007) Published in Postscripts 12
- The Black Heart (2009)
- "51" (2022)
9 comments:
This is powerful, Patti. I like the idea of including poetry in this meme, and in reading it in general. Thanks for sharing.
Not a poetry guy, but this resonated. Thanks for sharing it.
Poetry seems to be on the rise with Amanda Gorman's performance at the Inaugural. Gorman will be reading a poem at the Super Bowl, too!
I am reminded of rabbits, and how their hearts give out if all Is hopless.
If I can stay alert long enough, an FFB list will emerge within a day.
I love the poem, powerful and flows wonderfully. I like it a lot, thanks so much!
I don’t have my blogging organized these days so just put up a various & sundry now and then, but I’ll try to get a forgotten book up when I read one!
Patrick is a very talented writer.
Novels
Door Number Three (1995) also appeared as:
Translation: Die dritte Tür [German] (1998)
The Gift (1997) also appeared as:
Translation: Le don: L'ultime héritage [French] (2010)
The Impossible Bird (2002) also appeared as:
Translation: L'oiseau impossible [French] (2007)
Collections
Other Voices, Other Doors (2000)
The Black Heart (2009)
Short Fiction
23 Skidoo (1997)
Brand Equity (1998)
The Second Window (2000)
Bat Boy (2000)
Before & After (2000)
Ding, Ding, Ding--A Christmas Story (2000)
The Maker of Miniatures (2000)
The Problem Phone (2000)
We Are All Together (2000)
The Black Heart (2001)
The Me After the Rock (2002) also appeared as:
Translation: Moi, àpres le caillou [French] (2006)
What Mattered Was Sleep (2002)
The Bearing of Light (2002)
The Dream of Vibo (2003) also appeared as:
Variant: The Dreaming Bird (2009)
The Cane (2007)
The Oldest Man on Earth (2008)
That Laugh (2009)
Catching a Dream (2009)
The Flying Child (from The Gift) (2009)
The Verge of a Pucker (2009)
The Whole Schmear (from the Impossible Bird) (2009)
The Witch's Hand (2009)
The Wooden Leg (from Door Number Three) (2009)
Yo-Yo, Stradivarius & Me (2009)
Half the Bargain (2010)
Poems
The Boat (2001)
The Terrorist (2001)
Invisible Geese: A Theory (2003)
The Perfect City (2003)
Ulysses Kingfisher (2010)
Essays
Read This (NYRSF, December 1995) (1995)
How I Wrote a Science Fiction (1997)
Letter (NYRSF, August 1997) (1997)
Death & The Critic (1998)
The Wizard of the Ineffable, or I Tried to Analyze Gene Wolfe and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt (2000)
Letter: Senior/Dorsey (NYRSF, April 2000) (2000)
Introduction: A Cowboy Hospital Romance (2000)
Letter (SF Commentary 78) (2003)
Author's Introduction: The Bears in the Moat (2009)
Reviews
The Callahan Touch (1995) by Spider Robinson
Caldé of the Long Sun (1997) by Gene Wolfe
Exodus From the Long Sun (1997) by Gene Wolfe
Lake of the Long Sun (1997) by Gene Wolfe
Nightside the Long Sun (1997) by Gene Wolfe
Interviews with This Author
Patrick O'Leary: Birdsongs (1999) by uncredited
from: http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?705 (ISFDB)
One can hear O'Leary read:
https://lib.msu.edu/branches/vvl/writers/
That is an amazing poem, Patti. And, as you say, it really fits our times.
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