February 2019
J. R. Solonche
jsolo@frontiernet.net
jsolo@frontiernet.net
I’m professor Emeritus of English at SUNY Orange. I live in the Hudson Valley. I’ve published eight poetry collections as well as extensively in magazines and anthologies.
TWO PORTRAITS BY MATHEW BRADY
1.
Here is Walt with his hat on his head,
his crumpled hat without a shape,
his rumpled, comfortable, free-verse hat on his head.
He looks as though he has just come in
from the rain and has suddenly sat down without being asked.
He looks like a grandfather, Walt does.
Better than that, Walt looks like a grandmother,
even with the beard, a grandmother, kindly and wise.
Walt has his hands in his pockets.
He looks as though he has just come in from the rain
and has sat down in front of the camera
without being asked and without taking his hat off
and without taking his hands from his pockets.
Walt fills the chair completely.
Walt sits in the chair as though sauntering down the street.
You cannot see Walt's hands and you cannot see
the chair because he fills it completely.
What a perfectly natural pose
for kindly, wise, grandmotherly, comfortable Walt.
Walt looks at you.
Walt looks right at you and no one else.
That's where Walt's eyes are.
Right in your eyes.
2.
It is hard to look at Hawthorne without getting hurt.
Everything about Hawthorne is hard.
Everything about Hawthorne hurts.
His hat is a stiff, black, formal, silk top-hat.
It looks like an iron cylinder in an iron ring.
It sits on a book, not on his head.
The book must be the bible, Hawthorne's bible or Brady's bible.
The bible sits on a table.
The book, the hat, the table.
These are the props it hurts to look at.
Hawthorne's hands are clearly visible.
His right hand is clenched in a fist on the table.
It looks as though he has been pounding on the table.
His left hand grasps the arm of the chair.
Hawthorne looks as though he's been sitting in the chair
all his life.
The chair is visible because Hawthorne
does not fill it completely.
Hawthorne's hands are hard to look at.
Hawthorne looks like a preacher.
He looks stiff and uneasy and uncomfortable.
He looks as though there is something about the camera
he is afraid of.
Hawthorne looks as though he were propped up
with iron rings.
Hawthorne looks like his hat.
He is hard to look at.
He looks like a preacher who doesn't know
what to do with his hands because there's no lectern.
Hawthorne looks over your shoulder.
His eyes are on the shadow over your shoulder.
The shadow you do not know is there.
It is hard to look at Hawthorne without getting hurt.
Everything about Hawthorne is hard.
Everything about Hawthorne hurts.
His hat is a stiff, black, formal, silk top-hat.
It looks like an iron cylinder in an iron ring.
It sits on a book, not on his head.
The book must be the bible, Hawthorne's bible or Brady's bible.
The bible sits on a table.
The book, the hat, the table.
These are the props it hurts to look at.
Hawthorne's hands are clearly visible.
His right hand is clenched in a fist on the table.
It looks as though he has been pounding on the table.
His left hand grasps the arm of the chair.
Hawthorne looks as though he's been sitting in the chair
all his life.
The chair is visible because Hawthorne
does not fill it completely.
Hawthorne's hands are hard to look at.
Hawthorne looks like a preacher.
He looks stiff and uneasy and uncomfortable.
He looks as though there is something about the camera
he is afraid of.
Hawthorne looks as though he were propped up
with iron rings.
Hawthorne looks like his hat.
He is hard to look at.
He looks like a preacher who doesn't know
what to do with his hands because there's no lectern.
Hawthorne looks over your shoulder.
His eyes are on the shadow over your shoulder.
The shadow you do not know is there.
©20198 J. R. Solonche
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