ISBN: 1948461595 9781948461597

Category: Poetry / General

Page count: 50

<p>Winter is a season of the heart. The Winter of J is a collection of poems set in Buffalo, New York, where Gary Percesepe spent twelve years--one winter falling in and out of love with J, and taking an axe to the frozen sea inside.</p><p>though we parted that spring the roads<br> kept freezing and thawing between snows<br> until the weak sun wakened me and I realized <br> our love had made me thinner.</p><p>From First Date and new love: </p><p>She was hair and bruises with a shot of ragamuffin</p><p>my thoughts slowed to the pace of<br> drifting snow</p><p>to blizzards and frozen rivers blued from bridge lights, we come inevitably to Breakup--</p><p>she will appear<br> like a cutting stone<br> her laughter a fresh sword</p><p>Finding resolution at last in acceptance, but not without lingering questions: </p><p>can memory freeze in place like this?</p><p>The Winter of J is a lyrical meditation on love and temporality. With the poet, we wonder how such a short span of time can have such a lasting impact, while marveling again at the resiliency of the human heart: </p><p>the poet amounted his affair<br> summed it at five months<br> licked his ice cream cone<br> and melted<br> We know these women only from their leavings. <br> We love to watch them go.</p><p> </p>