All I can say is that I never read anything like it. Whatever defines poetry as poetry; poetry that makes me hold my breath as I am reading; poetry that is inseparable from the soul of the poet; poetry that makes me blessed that the poet and I are friends--this little book is all of that and more. As Seiden created these poems "the sky was lit by the glow of lights." Philip Bromberg Author, The Shadow of the Tsunami: and the Growth of the Relational Mind. It is a pleasure to sit with Henry Seiden's vivid, witty, sly, and stunningly evocative poems about coming of age. Even though my own childhood evolved in WASPy suburbs far from the poet's urban Jewish landscape, I find myself "remembering" similar milestones. The simplicity of Seiden's language ambushes the reader with a density of emotion, whether of loss, longing, or the dawning realization of one's power even over the powerful - and all the joy and guilt that comes with that surprise. This book is a delight to the heart. Nancy McWilliams, Visiting Full Professor, Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix 1. GRANDMOTHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 1 2. SNEEZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3. ICE CREAM CONES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 4. YANKEE STADIUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 5. TEACHERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6. BETRAYAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 7. SHAKESPEARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8. SOCIOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 9. OLD FORGE, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 10. CANOE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 11. MI S S BRODIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 12. SOCRATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 13. FRENCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15 14. POOL HALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 15. PSYCHOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18 16. UNION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 17. HAIRCUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 18. ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER AND MARY HENLE .21 19. HOWE, FAULKNER AND MACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 20. DUGAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 21. RORSCHACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 22. RECURRING DREAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 About the Author: Henry Seiden is a psychologist and psychoanalyst who lives and practices in Forest Hills, New York. In his professional role, he is a member of the Board of Editors of Psychoanalytic Psychology and Division/Review, journals of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. Within that role, he is co-author of Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide (Scribner's, 1988), which has been translated into Chinese, Portuguese and Russian. Among his professional papers, some of which overlap with his knowledge of poetry and skill as a poet, are articles on Wallace Stevens and on using poetry in psychotherapy with children. He is also Poetry Editor of Division/Review.
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