Eileen Tabios
From The Ashbery Riff-Offs
—where each poem begins with 1 or 1-2 lines from “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” by John Ashbery
Witnessed in the Convex Mirror: Falling Light
The light sinks today with an enthusiasm
I have known elsewhere, and known why
A friend’s strained eyes beckon from
“GoFundMe”—I slump at his fall. He struggles
today but I am larger today because of his
existence. Once, his pale hand reached out
of an alley’s dimness to guide me up, to help
me stand. What dank cave hosted him from
unrelenting storms? Perhaps the one where
stalactites interrupt uneasy sleep when they
fall? Such is a detail memorized by my mind
‘s eye—but surely everyone is familiar with how
people fall, and how it’s not that different from
the trajectory of angels. “Easy to give what one
can,” the saying goes. I go, “Easier, actually, to
give what one cannot.” Behind eyes burning
from strain lies the knowledge: “the earth
doesn’t / turn /
it’s deflected.”
Editor’s Note: The final lines are quoted from the poem “Psyche & Eros,” by Rosmarie Waldrop. Originally published as a pamphlet (Spectacular Diseases, 1980), the poem may also be found in Waldrop’s Gap Gardening: Selected Poems (New Directions Publishing, 2016 ).
Eileen R. Tabios has released about 50 collections of poetry, fiction, essays, and experimental biographies from publishers in eight countries and cyberspace. Her most recent include The Opposite of Claustrophobia (Knives, Forks and Spoons Press, 2017) and Amnesia: Somebody’s Memoir (Black Radish Books, 2016). Forthcoming poetry collections include Mantattan: An Archaeology (Paloma Press, 2017). Inventor of the poetry form “hay(na)ku,” her poetry has been translated into eight languages. She also has edited, co-edited or conceptualized 12 anthologies of poetry, fiction and essays as well as served as editor or guest editor for various literary journals. More information is available at eileenrtabios.com.
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