Angelo Verga: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

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My Father Loves Me, He Loves Me,

He Gets Down on His Knees and Hugs Me

 

My father hugs me, and sweats

we go down one step

           at a time

face to face, neck to neck

 

My hands under his arms

my left foot

            then my right foot down

my face rests on his chest

then his right leg drifts, descends

the foot hesitant, his face clenched

 

A long rest, and then, his left floats

joins its best friend and

             his face softens, less tense

 

One step of the twelve-step staircase done

 

Five minutes later we’ve bottomed

            This is fun, I say

We look gay, he frowns, out of breath

 

and we both laugh, till his eyes grow wet

 

The two doors, inner and outer

are easier, but slow

 

Outside we try another dance

he holds the banister with one hand

my shoulder with his other

I have one hand halfway

           around his titanic belly

and the other free, if he

should begin to let go or fall

 

The car in the driveway with its small

unlocked door seems far away

 

How am I going to get in? he asks

Ass first; then one leg at a time

And slow, slow, dad, we’ve got no deadline

Eleven o ‘clock, he corrects

The doctor can’t start without us, pop, no sweat

 

But I am wrong, his shirt is drenched wet,

His thin hair matted, and flat

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Angelo Verga’s work, which has appeared in more than 150 poetry publications, has been widely anthologized and translated into a dozen languages. His seventh and most recent book is Long & Short, including “The Street in Your Head” (2016). He was an owner of The Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village, where his literary programs (1997–2015) provided a home for poets and audiences alike. He is currently a resident of Harlem, NYC, USA.

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                                                              M. C. Escher, Relativity, lithograph, first printed in December 1953.

Comments

[Sr. Leslie]

Wow…What a gorgeous poem…and yes, “powerful”…the lightness dancing down quickly at first…slowing down…and a little “heavier” at the end…Father and Son, their roles reversed by the end…held together, by The Holy Spirit…by love/Love …thank you Terence and Angelo!

[Terence Winch]

Leslie---thanks, as always, for your response.

[Bill Nevins]

Beautiful treasure of a poem by Angelo! With a slow snap at the end. My my my. I'll be re reading this one many times I know and it has triggered memories of my own father, and my son, which will I suspect evolve into new poems I hope to write. Thanks, brothers Angelo and Terence! Cornelia Street Cafe of most fond memories! Cheers!

[Terence Winch]

Thanks, Bill!

[Cindy Hochman]

I've been a fan and friend of Angelo's for many years and it's great to see this wonderfully crafted and poignant yet joyful poem showcased here. I can see and feel every line: the tenderness, the authenticity, and how the "twelve-step staircase" evokes so much emotion between father and son. BRAVO, Angelo, and thank you, as always, Terence, for choosing such a varied mix of talented voices.

[Cindy Hochman]

Oh, and I also meant to say that artwork accompanying the poem is awesome too.

[Clarinda]

I’m in tears. My own father was tall but so reduced in flesh by it
Terminal cancer my tall young son could almost carry him down the long hall

[Lola Haskins]

This is a beautiful, heart-felt poem.
And absolutely necessary.

Thank you, Terence for choosing it,
and most of all, thank you Angelo
for your honesty and grace.

I'm proud to meet you.

Lola Haskins

[Terence Winch]

Thanks for tuning in, Cindy

[Thomas O'Grady]

The Escher is a wonderful complement to this very moving and lovingly played out poem. It rings very true to my own *privilege* of “being there” (whenever I could) to care for aging parents. Wonderful!

[Terence Winch]

Lola: thanks for your comment.

[Terence Hegarty]

Nice work, Angelo! The subtle reversal of roles is really fine.
Terence H

[Abbie Mulvihill]

Really beautiful, relatable slow hug of familial support. I love this poem!

[Grace Cavalieri]

And as we all begin to be 'the father,' we thank Angelo for his grace and blessings.

[Grace Cavalieri]

The visual is another "first ever--you saw it here." We are lucky.

[Bill Zavatsky]

Angelo Verga is a terrific poet!

[Eileen Reich]

Beautiful, visual poem. Heartfelt description of father and son.

[Dr. Earle Hitchner]

The title of Angelo Verga's poem grabbed me at the outset. Remember "Loves Me Like a Rock," the hit song from Paul Simon's 1973 album, THERE GOES RHYMIN' SIMON, and these lines: "Oh, my mama loves me, she loves me / She gets down on her knees and hugs me"? In the 36-line "My Father Loves Me, He Loves Me, He Gets Down on His Knees and Hugs Me," the first 14 lines constitute an exertive ("sweats" appears at the end of the first line) single step. The way those lines are at times unevenly aligned on the page amplifies the strain and stress of negotiating that initial step. With the son hugging his perspiring father "face to face, neck to neck," the father's "right leg drifts, descends / the foot hesitant, his face clenched." In a sense, the "twelve-step staircase" has become a kind of twelve-step, physical and emotional rehabilitation program for father-son interdependence. By line 24, it is the son helping his father down the stairs: "I have one hand halfway / around his titanic belly / and the other free, if he should begin to let go or fall." Even the bungled reassurance from the son about the eleven o'clock appointment--"The doctor can't start without us, pop, no sweat"--is immediately countered by the boy's full recognition of his father's shirt "drenched wet" and "his thin hair matted, and flat." Who's helping whom? The answer is each. Angelo Verga's poem, deftly complemented by the M. C. Escher lithograph, is impossible to forget. Great poem, Angelo, and great pick, Terence!

[Linda Lerner]

very moving poem. I felt myself going down those steps with him as I was reading it, relief when he made it. And you.

[Erika Joyce]

WOWZA YOWZA I’m going to read this again and then again.
This poem says so much, so very gracefully
and beautifully, while it hits you over the head.
Sending thanks to Angelo for bringing this to my attention 💖