Remembering James Longenbach (1959-2022) And J. Michael Cook (1948-2021) Two Plus Years Following Their Deaths: Dove Sta Memoria, Trace Poem by Dennis Ryan

Tuesday morning, September 3, 2024, begun at 5: 40 a.m. and blocked by Poem Hunter at 6: 41 a.m.; started again at 7: 03 a.m. and finished and published at 7: 20 a.m.

—This poem is dedicated to Joanna Scott and Gail Stillman Cook, their widows, both of whom I know. Jim was Professor of English at the University of Rochester for more than 30 years as was Mike at Duke University, the former Director of The Flow Cytommetry Center on the medical campus.

'Nothing matters but the quality
of the affection—
in the end—that has carved the trace
in the mind
dove sta memoria'
—Ezra Pound, From Canto LXXI of The Pisan Cantos

Poems mean little to nothing unless
they are actively remembered once spoken—
the memory trace, 'that quality of affection'
about which Pound wrote ceaselessly,
repeated, commemorated in the Cantos.
Inside of consciousness. You remember,
Jim, especially Canto LXXI is kept alive …
You remember, Jim; remember him.
I do—though I am forced to live like
a fugitive, though I am not, hunted
by police for the heinous crimes they
themselves have committed against me,
my family, a few others, J. Michael Cook
included, who died exactly 368 days before
you, Jim. Remember him. Mike, a good
friend since childhood. That trace. This mark …