George And Me Poem by Denis Mair

George And Me

Rating: 4.5


My life lies splayed out across the years
In serpentine course through town and city
I need an old friend to prod the memory-snake
And let me feel it stretch into the past.

The tail goes back to industrial suburbs
And a sad-eyed boy
Who studied the scenery on the wartime stage
And escaped being inducted into the sound and fury;
Then the story bends toward a college town
Where he missed some friends that fate appointed
Being rapt in imagining the hearts of others
Inside the many marks he learned on paper;
Then it makes its way to a Far-East sojourn
Tilting at windmills of someone else's culture
Hitting the wall of Third World awakening;
Then making a loop to the Midwest
To weather the storm he brought back with him;
Then lost windings homeward, coast to coast
One coil always wrapped tenderly around a child
Many convolutions abysmally submerged.

Finally it climbs out, shakes off the flute-song of ancient books
Winding schoolward again to study its own land's culture
Allowed to crawl into a classroom, to teach
‘Freshman Composition'
Which is how it ran into George.

George: quick-witted student and instant pal
You kept our class alive,
Late-met friend to remedy my lonesome youth
You stood out like a ‘Bud' sign in a dim tavern;
Nothing was serious or simple to you
And the rest of that Warren rat-pack
From the favored heights of rusty Youngstown,
But you were good-hearted and tough-minded.
Your remarks were cloud-enclosed captions
In a comic book co-written by God and Satan;
You played your thoughts on heavenly piano
(no talk of your tormented fingers) .

When my marriage exploded, you and Dave Kelly
Let me and my daughter move into Animal House;
You taught her duets and Beatles tunes
She guarded Dave's keys so he wouldn't drive drunk.
Three wild undergrads and a grad-student father
Kept house with a sweet-tempered first grader.

Of course our household scattered soon
I went to work in Philadelphia, then on to China;
You went to law school, then on to New York
Piles of letters have passed between us
As I continued my wandering ways
And you served, and made a life for yourself
As Public Defender at a courthouse in the Bronx.
Now you're getting prickly and hard-bitten
Still you're best for sharing thoughts and poetry.

That's why I don't need this moment's tyranny
And I think of George, to touch the memory-snake
To help me keep what's mine from twenty years back,
To nudge the long body of memory
So I can know the road I came on
And own it every inch of the way.

I am more than these sensations through beady eyes
Sidling up distractedly to flowers and grasses
To flicker my tongue at the wind is not enough
A friend helps me live in the snake-body of my whole life.


.........
Notes: BUD is an abbreviation for BUDWEISER beer. BUD is also short for "buddy." WARREN HEIGHTS is a semi-affluent suburb of Youngstown where families belonging to the professional class lived. Youngstown (in the mid-western Rust Belt)was hard-hit by the steel industry's decline. ANIMAL HOUSE was a movie starring John Belushi about a group of party-loving college students who shared a house.

Saturday, June 27, 2015
Topic(s) of this poem: friendship,history
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Thanks to Wang Hao for translating this into Chinese:

我和乔治

我的一生斜洒在岁月里
蜿蜒蛇行,穿过镇子和城市
需要一位老朋友戳一下这记忆的蛇
让我感到它伸向过去。

尾巴回到工业化的郊区
一个眼神悲伤的男孩
凝视舞台上的布景
错过了被征入喧哗与躁动的时机;
然后故事转向一个大学城
他在那里错过了几个命运指派的朋友
因为他一头钻入纸上的记号
沉迷于想象他人的心灵;
然后辗转走向远东的客居
举矛刺向他人文化的风车
撞上了第三世界觉醒的墙壁;
然后转了一圈去中西部
去经受他自己带回的风暴;
然后失去了回家的弯曲的路,从海岸到海岸
始终用其身的一匝来温和地缠绕一个孩子
很多次盘卷被无休止地浸没。

最后它终于爬出来,抖落古卷的箫歌
再次向校门挺进,去学习自己土地上的文化
获准爬进一间教室,去教
"大学一年级作文"
于是它遇到了乔治。

乔治:聪敏的学生,速熟的哥们
你带活了我们课堂的神经
相遇恨晚的朋友,
正好足以补救我孤寂的青年时代

你就像昏暗的酒吧里闪烁的"百威"标志一样醒目;
你和那些沃伦鼠党都来自上苍垂爱的高冈,
在锈迹斑斑的杨斯敦市区以外,
你们眼里没有严肃或单纯的东西。
但是你善良,有骨气。
你的话好像印在云团里的配字,
在一部上帝与撒旦合撰的漫画里
你在天国的钢琴上弹奏自己的思想
(不提到你疼痛的手指)。

当我的婚姻炸裂,你和戴维·凯利
允许我和女儿搬进动物屋;
你教她二重唱和披头士歌的弹法
她管着戴维的钥匙不让他酒后驾车。
三个疯狂的本科生和一个读研究生的父亲
跟一个脾气温良的一年级学生一起管家。

当然,我们的家很快散了
我去费城工作,然后去中国;
你去读法律,然后去纽约
我们的通信堆成几摞
我继续我流浪的旅途
你做出了有贡献的事,建立自己的生活
在布朗克斯区的一个法院当公辩人。
现在你说话带刺,越来越顽强
但仍然最适合与你分享思想和诗歌。

因此我不需要此刻的专制
我会想起乔治,来触摸记忆之蛇
这样会帮助我保留十年前属于我的东西
推一下这条记忆之蛇
让我知道我来时的路
并拥有这条道路的每一寸。

我不仅仅是透过小眼珠看到的这些感知
漫无目的地侧身走向花和草
在风中摇动我的舌头是不够的
一个朋友帮我活在我整个人生的蛇身里面。

中译: 王浩
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Susan Williams 19 February 2016

I enjoyed this glimpse of a life lived so different from mine. Yet there is a commonality- -the friendships that give texture and color and depth and sometimes awesomely silly shallows to our life. Your George is the sauce that gives savory tastes to that portion of your life- may he live on there and in your present.

6 0 Reply
Bharati Nayak 12 September 2015

Going down your memory lane you find your friend George a true friend who had been of immense help through your college days and afterwards.The days with George are your pleasurable memories and still fill your heart with warmth and gratitude.Very well penned piece of poem on an old friend.

1 0 Reply
Mary Mc Creath 24 September 2015

A life history told in this poem. One that is interesting and varied. Congratulations on an interesting and well written work.

1 0 Reply
Kong Yin 08 December 2015

I like this one; it makes me think.

0 0 Reply
Denis Mair 09 December 2015

Thanks for giving it a thoughtful reading. This poem was translated into Chinese by a friend. Maybe you'd like to see the Chinese version. I'm in India now, don't have my laptop withh me. When I get back to China I'll send it to your mailbox. DM

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Mahtab Bangalee 01 April 2019

good friendship poem written beautifully- I think of George, to touch the memory-snake To help me keep what's mine from twenty years back, To give this memory-snake a nudge So I can know the road I came on....///

1 0 Reply
Bri Edwards 28 September 2017

could be George and Me, or maybe George and I. ? i can't tell yet. favorite lines so far: I need an old friend to prod the memory-snake And let me feel it stretch into the past. rapt or wrapped? maybe either one? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Being rapt in imagining the hearts of others................. Search Results Dictionary rapt rapt/ adjective adjective: rapt 1. completely fascinated by what one is seeing or hearing. Andrew looked at her, rapt synonyms: fascinated, enthralled, spellbound, captivated, riveted, gripped, mesmerized, enchanted, entranced, bewitched, moonstruck; transported, enraptured, thrilled, ecstatic a rapt teenage audience antonyms: inattentive indicating or characterized by a state of fascination. they listened with rapt attention synonyms: fascinated, enthralled, spellbound, captivated, riveted, gripped, mesmerized, enchanted, entranced, bewitched, moonstruck; More transported, enraptured, thrilled, ecstatic a rapt teenage audience antonyms: inattentive filled with an intense and pleasurable emotion; enraptured. she shut her eyes and seemed rapt with desire synonyms: fascinated, enthralled, spellbound, captivated, riveted, gripped, mesmerized, enchanted, entranced, bewitched, moonstruck; More transported, enraptured, thrilled, ecstatic a rapt teenage audience antonyms: inattentive 2. archaic literary having been carried away bodily or transported to heaven. he was rapt on high Your use of “its” instead of “his” sometimes ‘throws me’. At least you did not spell “its” as “it’s” like some (otherwise-good poets on PH) do! I think you use “it” instead of “life” sometimes. “this moment’s tyranny” …………..perhaps another poem could explain this? It’s always good to have a friend who is a Public Defender. Bri ;) I wonder what ‘daughter’ is doing now. Thanks for sharing. so, George and I are friends, or the poem is about George and Me.

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Rose Kanana 08 September 2016

down memory lane bio-George meant ans means the world to you.

0 0 Reply
Salman Sayeed 13 March 2016

What a surprise poem...thanks for sharing

0 0 Reply
Madathil Rajendran Nair 21 February 2016

A beautiful snake uncoiling with a hiss back through memory lanes.

1 0 Reply
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