D. Nurkse: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dominant Harmony

 

In that dream I pinched myself

and my father said No! You cannot wake by suffering.

 

So how will I wake? How will I know I‘m alive?                                            

And how will you know me?

My father showed me:

bulky furniture covered with a tarp

he whisked away: a rented Bechstein.

 

I said: what shall I practice?

The scales, the voicings, the remote minor?

My father said: practice the dream and perform it.

 

All night I watched my hands trying to escape.                    

Breathless summer. Pollen hung in the no-breeze,

a dry pang high in the nostrils.

 

Outside the crickets were building an empire

itchy as the night sky.

 

The universe was a mumble of prompts:

Maestoso. Accelerando. Apartando.  

 

Venus waited with pursed lips.

 

And my father listened critically,

legs crossed, two fingers against his cheek,

a tall man determined to take up no space,

his knees up to his chin—at last

a light came to the window. Dawn.

I had played it.

            I had coaxed my little finger

to forget Narva, my cherished griefs,

my father fading in his frayed blue robe.

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D. Nurkse's twelfth poetry collection A Country of Strangers: New and Selected Poems was published by Knopf in 2022. 

[note: Narva---competition in Estonia dedicated to the works of Polish composer Frederick Chopin.]

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                    Margaret Isabel Dicksee, The Child Handel Discovered by His Parents, 1893. Oil on canvas. H 91.5 x W 122 cm. 

Comments

[Jeffrey Cyphers Wright]

What a touch! An exquisite, inventive portrait. A micro novel. We all create/ inherit our own “cherished griefs.”

[Grace Cavalieri]

OH MY GOSH I have loved this guy forever. He is the tower of Pisa..He's the top! Was on my show once 40 years ago. I'm so glad there's a new book from him. He says the right words to make us believe poetry is always always a miracle.

[Bill Nevins]

Outside the crickets were building an empire

itchy as the night sky.
Gawd what a beautiful poem. If I could write like that, well, you know, I'd sell my soul to any damn demon for that!
Thanks a million!

[Beth Joselow]

I'm with Grace. Remember receiving poems from him at Washington Review and being knocked out. As I am by this fine poem.

[Sr. Leslie]

Beautiful poem…I love the line: “practice the dream and perform it.”…I think this is the first time I have read any of his poetry and will look into reading more!…Thank you Terence and once again, such a great choice and thank you D. Nurske!

[Terence Winch]

Thanks back to you, Leslie.

[Eileen Reich]

I love this beautiful poem and the great artwork.

[Don Berger]

I love how as the story's happening we forget that it's a dream and then loop back to re-experience this miracle full of treasures like "a tall man determined to take up no space, / his knees up to his chin." Such a beautifully vivid smart poem by someone I'd never read before. Thanks Terence for once more showing us something great.

[Terence Winch]

Don: thanks for the comment.

[clarinda harriss]

This poem manages to capture the experience of a dream perfectly. The details. Dreams tend to be amazing in their detail. So is this poem.

[David Beaudouin]

“Practice the dream and perfect it” — a rare example of a poem that echoes in your head long after reading. And what Jeffrey Cyphers Wright said. Thank you, D. and Terence!

[Kate Farrell]

Beautiful poem by a wonderful poet!