Nunc et in ora mortis nostrae, the final words of the Hail Mary Prayer (Now, and in the hour of our death) cast a pall over many of the poems in this collection. Here can be found gimlet-eyed meditations on mortality, whether learning of an old lover’s terminal diagnosis while mid-spoon in lobster bisque or falling in love with a dying leaf; whether on a first date on 9/11 or contemplating the jaw-dropping homicide rate in his homeland of Venezuela; whether being in the CCU himself or observing a beloved’s early onset Alzheimer’s—death is omnipresent. And not only corporeal death but the death of love, which he experiences aboard a ferry, in a sauna, on a city bus, from a pond as snowy winter herons take flight. Still, amidst such sorrow and such dour contemplations, these poems fly the banner of hope, of survival, of blossoming after trauma, reminding us that Life—with a capital “L”—goes on as usual, like the birds living at the Home Depot that disregard us mortals as they go about the business of living: twittering, swooping, and pooping. The poems in “guilty as an orchid,” if we let them, can serve as a road map that leads us to self-discovery. They can map out for us a path to internal illumination, redemption, renewed hope, and the love reawaking in us.
#queer#Latino#sonnet#love#survivorself-disclosurealzheimers9/11self-discovery godlovelosscitizenidentitypathmapexilefulfillmentdisappointmentvulnerability
Richard Haney-Jardine, born and raised in Venezuela, grew up speaking and writing in Spanish, English, and French. At 15, he came to the US to study at Phillips Exeter Academy, where he worked individually (albeit briefly) with Gwendolyn Brooks, Jorge Luis Borges, and Thom Gunn.
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English
