Jonah Winter - Octopus Books

Jonah Winter
The Continuing Adventures of Andrew, the Headless Talking Bear
Octopus Books


*


Dead human bodies, in a sense,
being the snow-covered road you take to an island
where all the palm trees and postcards suggest
something’s coming to an end:

the world, dark as a Caravaggio
Christ being lowered from the cross
upside-down, at night, no sign of God
or light – and yet, something illuminates the faces,

something coming to an end, a candle,
for instance, we’re not allowed to see – “Ah!”
you say, disrupting my slide show. “But isn’t
the artist an orchid juxtaposed against

a black wall? Or am I in the wrong
century? Why’s it so quiet?


*


Octopus Books put out a series of chapbooks this year, and I’m finally getting to spend some time with them. I know I’m getting to the party late, but these are seriously good chapbooks. Tonight I’m reading Jonah Winter’s chapbook, a long poem of sonnet-like poems in two sections, extending to 36 pages. I’m having a wonderful time. Wish you were here.