Love At 19th & Guerrero
Mel C. Thompson
- These
- love
- poems
- were
- inspired
- by
- my
- admiration
- for
- three
- people
- who
- had
- been,
- in
- the
- early
- 1990s,
- regular
- performers
- in
- the
- Café
- Babar
- poetry
- scene,
- but
- have
- since
- passed
- on.
- The
- book
- was
- inspired
- by
- my
- profound
- sense
- of
- loss
- when
- the
- news
- came
- in
- from
- Michigan
- that
- Dominique
- Lowell
- had
- passed
- on
- in
- June
- of
- this
- year,
- 2017,
- just
- four
- years
- after
- Joie
- Cook.
- Eli
- Coppola
- had
- left
- us
- back
- in
- the
- year
- 2,000.
- Each
- of
- these
- women
- had
- something
- that
- was
- irreplaceable,
- a
- particular
- style
- of
- communicating,
- not
- just
- in
- their
- manner
- of
- speaking,
- but
- also
- in
- their
- manner
- of
- listening.
- My
- experience
- of
- them
- had
- one
- common
- thread,
- and
- that
- was
- my
- feeling,
- whenever
- I
- left
- their
- presence,
- that
- I
- had
- been
- deeply
- heard.
- And
- here
- I
- am
- not
- referring
- to
- the
- kind
- of
- technique-filled
- faux-humility
- that
- passes
- for
- good
- listening
- now.
- (In
- this
- Neo-Victorian
- age
- mere
- self-suppression
- and
- blandness
- are
- mistaken
- for
- good
- listening,
- and
- simple
- enthusiasm
- and
- expressiveness
- are
- counted
- as
- bad
- listening.)
- Instead,
- I'm
- talking
- about
- empathy.
- This
- is
- not
- to
- say
- that
- these
- listeners
- didn't
- all
- have
- their
- dark
- sides,
- but
- rather,
- it
- is
- to
- say
- that
- they
- were
- the
- kind
- of
- people
- I
- felt
- I
- could
- call
- and
- simply
- say
- what
- I
- was
- feeling,
- however
- frightened
- and
- lonely
- I
- might
- be.
- And,
- having
- opened
- my
- deepest
- self
- up
- to
- them,
- I
- walked
- away
- feeling
- known.
- Some
- of
- these
- relationships
- never
- went
- further
- than
- conversation,
- and
- some
- went
- a
- bit
- beyond
- that.
- The
- poems
- can
- speak
- to
- that
- matter
- for
- themselves.
- In
- any
- case,
- they
- were
- each,
- in
- their
- own
- way,
- quite
- obviously
- muses,
- and
- not
- just
- for
- me,
- but
- for
- many
- other
- men
- and
- women.
- Perhaps
- a
- hardbound
- volume
- could
- be
- filled
- if
- one
- were
- to
- gather
- all
- of
- the
- love-poems
- and
- tribute-verses
- written
- for
- them,
- whether
- publicly
- or
- privately.
- This
- short
- tract
- of
- poems,
- collected
- from
- several
- other
- books,
- letters
- and
- magazines,
- is
- a
- tribute
- to
- the
- vibrancy,
- the
- generosity,
- and
- the
- concern
- these
- fantastic
- people
- showed
- me.
- I
- miss
- them
- every
- day
- of
- my life.
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