When the birds’ names doubled with words that summonedideas from their hiding places (the flicker, the chat, the swift, the lark),I watched them more closely, confident that somewhere a thought would escape the bird, buoyed upon a pun, and I’d find meaning in a world that glidedabove me, dipping hardly into my mind.When I saw …
I tell my father about the mnemonic techniques of Greek and Roman orators—They’d construct palaces in their minds, affixing—to this archway, to that dome—portions of speeches they hopedto remember.He needs a trick to remind himmy mom has started chemotherapy.This is why she looks pale right now. This is why her hair is falling out.I need …
In the beginning, the gesture occurs without a thought:I reach for the word you can’t grasp and pass it to you like a bowl filled with rice.You spoon the rice onto your plate and pass back the empty bowl.At this point,the rounded space the bowl surrounds is not an image of loss.