February 2018
J. R. Solonche
jsolo@frontiernet.net
jsolo@frontiernet.net
I’m Professor Emeritus of English at SUNY Orange. I live in the Hudson Valley with my wife, the poet Joan I. Siegel, and five cats, two of whom are poets. I’ve published five collections of poetry, including Beautiful Day (Deerbrook Editions), Won’t Be long (Deerbrook Editions), and Invisible (Five Oaks Press), with the sixth forthcoming in April.
I’m Professor Emeritus of English at SUNY Orange. I live in the Hudson Valley with my wife, the poet Joan I. Siegel, and five cats, two of whom are poets. I’ve published five collections of poetry, including Beautiful Day (Deerbrook Editions), Won’t Be long (Deerbrook Editions), and Invisible (Five Oaks Press), with the sixth forthcoming in April.
IN THE BOOKSTORE I FOUND A BOOK
In the bookstore I found a book
with the title Ten Poems That Could
Change Your Life. I was intrigued,
so I took the book from the shelf,
and I opened it, at random, to Ode
To My Socks by Pablo Neruda. As
soon as I finished reading it, my life
changed. I began to think in Spanish,
a language I had learned in high school
and then quickly forgot. I began to consider
my clothes, ropa. I looked at my shoes,
zapatas, twin brown turds I stepped into
and could not shake off, and of course,
my socks, calcetines, which seemed
to blush with shame as I compared them
to his hand-made woolen ones. Then
I considered my trousers, pantalones,
and my pockets, bolsillos, and what
I had in my pockets, my wallet, billetera,
my keys, llaves, my loose change, cambio.
I considered my belt, cinturon, and my shirt,
camisa, and my jacket, chaqueta.
I knew the Spanish words for all of them,
amazingly, for my life had changed.
So I didn’t buy the book, libro. I didn’t need to.
My life had changed. Mi vida ha cambiado.
I was Pablo Neruda, and I took my new life
with me as I walked out of the bookstore,
libreria, leaving my old life there,
on the floor, piso, next to the penny, chavo,
I had dropped while considering mi cambio.
IN THE BOOKSTORE I FOUND A BOOK
In the bookstore I found a book
with the title Ten Poems That Could
Change Your Life. I was intrigued,
so I took the book from the shelf,
and I opened it, at random, to Ode
To My Socks by Pablo Neruda. As
soon as I finished reading it, my life
changed. I began to think in Spanish,
a language I had learned in high school
and then quickly forgot. I began to consider
my clothes, ropa. I looked at my shoes,
zapatas, twin brown turds I stepped into
and could not shake off, and of course,
my socks, calcetines, which seemed
to blush with shame as I compared them
to his hand-made woolen ones. Then
I considered my trousers, pantalones,
and my pockets, bolsillos, and what
I had in my pockets, my wallet, billetera,
my keys, llaves, my loose change, cambio.
I considered my belt, cinturon, and my shirt,
camisa, and my jacket, chaqueta.
I knew the Spanish words for all of them,
amazingly, for my life had changed.
So I didn’t buy the book, libro. I didn’t need to.
My life had changed. Mi vida ha cambiado.
I was Pablo Neruda, and I took my new life
with me as I walked out of the bookstore,
libreria, leaving my old life there,
on the floor, piso, next to the penny, chavo,
I had dropped while considering mi cambio.
©2018 J. R. Solonche
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