Blue Mistaken for Sky
When a poem causes you a wince of discomfort, chances are that it’s the poet who let down her defenses and revealed a psychic wound. Such vulnerability is powerful. You feel for the poet, and such feelings are what make us best as humans. But don’t overdo it, poet, because that well of empathy can quickly run dry. In sharing the heartache of her divorce, Andrea Hollander does humanity a service. She is the author of four other collections of poetry and the recipient of many prestigious prizes.
636 LYONS AVENUE, APARTMENT 1A
My grandparents chewed
with their mouths open.
I knew better than to mention it.
My mother, who’d grown up
in that apartment,
would not have approved
and would have given me
one of her knowing looks.
Stripped of hope this time
that she’d ever leave the hospital,
I’d come to eat with them,
these two who that evening
knew themselves
only as her parents
but seemed more like children
learning for the first time
appropriate behavior
as they sat at the Formica table,
paper napkins on their laps,
the meat on their plates cut
into tiny digestible pieces.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
