The Tookany Review Vol. II Fall/Winter 2006/2007
In this issue
Edited by Deborah Fries
At this
time, the Tookany Review
is only accepting the work of
writers who are enrolled
or have been enrolled in
Cheltenham Adult School
writing workshops.
For
more information about
writing workshops offered by
the Cheltenham Township Adult School, contact:
Cheltenham Township Adult
School
1414 Panther Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
Phone: 215-887-1720
Ruth Deming
Two poems
Yellow is the Color of Tomorrow
In memory of Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)
“I speak of God’s splendid irony in granting me
at one time
800,000 books and darkness.”
-- Upon being named Director of the National Library in Argentina
See! The girl reading on the front porch steps
is me,
every book written by You,
Jorge Luis Borges,
blind poet of The Argentine.
Later I sit in an auditorium in
Texas
baby Sarah in my belly
coming to expose both of us
to the presence of greatness
as they march you down
the aisle
proud bridegroom of
literature.
I rise in my seat as you enter
and stare for one glorious moment
from beginning to end
above the heads of alien Texans
in the great University
your erect form
steadfast as a cattle rustler
brought to trial
invincible
straight from your tales
though you are really frail
vulnerable
blind
without heirs
confined in this stuffy room
unlike your heroes who
roam the plains and dance
with senoritas innumerable
your life is your mind.
I swivel in the little cage
of my chair
my heart fluttering
like a moth as you pass by
and glimpse your
eyes that have seen the world,
dead now,
unlike you
and the endless plain that is your mind.
You ascend the stage
they give you a long introduction
- does it please you, O Master? -
All I want is to hear you speak
so my baby and I can glimpse your heart,
O man of many tongues
Your speech is incomprehensible
Nevermind
Your voice is all the rivers that flow
through your country,
the canopy of the Rain Forest
the poverty of your people,
the corruption of the politics
you tried to fight but failed
the dignity of the lizard living its
life for the Lord
the taste of mango
ripening on the vine
with its tender yellow flesh
Yellow, the color of the rising sun
the color of hope,
the color of the pages of all your books
which linger lonesome on the shelf
long after your death,
O Matador of my Heart.
Ruth Z. Deming is a psychotherapist and executive director of New Directions Support Group for people with mood disorders and their loved ones. Her hobbies include gardening, swimming, and talking to total strangers. Favorite poets include Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, and Rabindranath Tagore.