Perfection Wasted by John Updike

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market —
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.

Comments

[Laura Orem]

Amen.

[DON DELILLO]

Players: "He went to the smoking area, where he saw Frank McKechnie standing at the edge of a noisy group, biting skin from his thumb."
The Names (about Frank Volterra): "He wore dark glasses and kept biting skin from the edge of his thumb.”
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/03/biting-dead-skin-off-your-thumb-in.html#.Uzh86ahdXxA

["John Updike"]

Thomas Babington Levy (called "Babe") is both a marathon runner and a history scholar, a candidate for the PhD at Columbia. His whole adult life he has believed his older brother Doc to be in the oil business in Europe. Chapters about Babe are alternated with chapters about someone named Scylla, who seems to be some sort of international hit man.
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com

[sapna]

What are we to make of these appearances of signs in the novels? For one thing, Updike is obviously including them in these fictions as part of his desire to present real slices of life from late twentieth century American society – what it is/was like to live in this time, in this place
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2013/12/signs-and-signage-in-updikes-rabbit.html#.UyN2cj9dXxA

[Andrew Peridot]

Poems are like diamonds: a girl's best friend, and I mean girl in the most honorable sense of eternal youth.

[Silver Jewelry]

I Think this blog is really informative for me. writing skills is too good thanks for

[Rashi]

Great poetry beats silver jewelry on the NYSE. Read all about it here: https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/financial_market_report/page/3/

[Tony Paris]

Updike may be the most underrated poet in the American century.

[Julie Anderson]

It takes a craftsman to appreciate an artist. Also on our list for Fall 2021:
https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2021/09/now-published-the-morning-line-by-david-lehman.html

[Chris Dattan]

That poem sings to me. Friends, family , love, humor and the knowing in the backfround, this incredible shared joy will end.

[Miles David]

Hear, hear.

[Missori Silver]

The poignant lament of a departed soul reflects on the irreplaceable loss of a unique life's magic, leaving a void only the absence of imitators and descendants can convey.

[Silver925Gallery]

I appreciate you writing such a wonderful poem.