Wednesday, February 11, 2009

64 Questions/Preguntas

One of our dearest friends has just published his first book. 64 Questions is poetry created by looking carefully and often whimsically at the common day occurances and objects that surround our daily lives. An English professor at College of the Redwoods, Eureka, CA, Dave has and continues to be an inspiration to countless people around him. Good work, Dave and best wishes with 64 Questions!

Uno de nuestros amigos mas querido acaba de publicar su primer libro. 64 Questions contiene poesia creado por examinar cuidadosament y con fantasia las occurencias cotidianas y los objectos que nos rodean en la vida diaria. Como profesor de Ingles en la Universidad, College of the Redwoods, CA, Dave ha sido y sigue siendo una inspiracion a gente innumerosa que tiene a su alrededor. Buen trabajo, Dave, y los mejores deseos con 64 Questions!
64 Questions by David Holper
Riding Backwards
When I was thirteen, my brother and I learned the magic
of riding our bikes backwards.
To picture this, you’ll have to imagine
that we were younger than the summer afternoon,

young enough to sit on the handlebars
facing the seats and pedaling
counterclockwise.

We turned back the clock,
held off the evening until stars punctured the cobalt dome.
Unsurprisingly, learning this most necessary skill,

we fell until our hands were raw as history,
pages cupped with pooling blood,
droplets of the pain we insisted upon ourselves.

Looking back now, I realize that this spell I wove
was as much for him as it was for me.
And on that final day

when we learned to balance
—whoops at the miracle of being upright and in motion—
I can see the both of us

laughing, riding in endless circles
round and round one another
so we could see this magic in one another:

riding until the summer dark broke through our simple spell
darkness descending upon us.
Yes, we never wanted to leave that

Glorious
moment
behind.

ISBN 1-59661-101-435 pages/$9
http://www.marchstreetpress.com/cat/holper-64.html

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