Lou Suarez is the author of two book-length collections of poems, Ask (Mid-list Press, 2004) and Traveler (Mid-list Press, 2010), and three poetry chapbooks: Losses of Moment (Kent State University Press, 1995), The Grape Painter (Frost Heaves Press, 2001), and On U.S. 6 to Providence (Red Mountain Review, 2006). He is professor emeritus at Lorain County Community College.

Here are two poems from his new collection.

BIRTHDAY

Just think about your mother's

round belly and pale legs,

the strain in her lower back,

the curse she must have spoken

under her breath for your father's

having mounted her eight months before,

those last days of February

and the snow so deep and the wind

so brisk there was little

she could say to dissuade him,

his work day ended, the dishes washed,

and their bed clothes

clean and warm. Surely you prefer

to think of them elsewhere,

in a summer field or the lakeside cottage

where years later you would dream

your own son to life, that being

all it takes when you are young:

imagining a man and woman

on a blanket in the shade,

the sound of a rowboat pushing by,

the paddles dipping in the lake,

then rising wet and jeweled

by the generous sun.

“Birthday” was a winner of the Lakeland Community College Poetry Contest and originally appeared in Whiskey Island.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CONVERSATION

On Sunday I trimmed

the low-hanging branches

of three front-yard trees,

two oaks and an ash.

The thin branches I cut

with clippers; the thicker,

with a small saw. Now

the light the late sun

casts can reach

the front porch steps,

where neighbors sometimes

sit with long-neck beers

and chat about nothing

anyone would call

consequential if he heard it

anywhere else. Still

their talk keeps

the rhythm of a healthy heart

until evening comes

and the earth slows

nearly to a stop, as if

waiting to hear the one last thing

someone wants to say

before it’s too late to say it.

“Conversation” was the winner of the Fall 2006 Hollingsworth Prize and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize; it originally appeared in White Pelican Review.

Lou Suarez is available for readings, workshops, and manuscript assistance.
You can contact him at mail@lousuarez.com or 440-258-4281.

To purchase Traveler, visit midlistpress.org.