My dad turns 90 years old tomorrow and we are planning a surprise party, well, we’re going for mild surprise. Nobody will be jumping out from behind furniture and shouting “SURPRISE!” We don’t want it to be his last birthday. He and I haven’t always gotten along. When I was 16 I ran away from home.
But instead of telling you about all of that, I’d rather direct you to a poem that was just published (talk about timing!) in volume 15.1 of Blood Orange Review. Follow this link to read “Noriega Dies the Morning I Visit Dad.” And if you’d like, you can push the play button and listen to me read it while you follow along.
Thanks so much! And thanks to the editors of Blood Orange Review for giving this important poem an excellent home. You really should treat yourself to the entire issue. There’s so much meaty work in there.
David J. Bauman 
A very moving verse.
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Thank you, Martin! It feels good to be publishing and recording again.
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David, I thank you for the email,…the Poem.
(I’m not sure HOW I arrived on your mailing list,..🤔
..but I’m happy I arived. 🙃)
I like your poem,…sort of.
It whirls up A FEW nice images,..questions, thoughts…
But then,… it lets me hang(!). 😕
No relief.
No ‘answers’.
No,….anything…….😞
I believe ‘Artists’ (not that you claim to be one),..
I believe,…’the truely Alive'(!..!!) 💫💥💥💥
…strive, take the chance,…
SHARE their vision of solution(!),
to the problems,…challenges,…questions, visions, thoughts,
..they are describing.
I know,..you didn’t/don’t ‘promise’ this….
but,
…it’s what I look,…hope for. 🙃
Thanks again, for your sharings.
Thanks for reading my thoughts.
I wish you a really nice day! 🙂
..in Ludwigslust, Germany, in the moment;
it’s foggy cold. 😖
Gallagher Hayes
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Thank you for being on my mailing list, however that happened! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the poem, even if it was “sort of.”
I do appreciate the feedback. I don’t purposely try to leave anyone hanging, but if I were to be so bold as to analyze my own method, I would say that it’s not my job to propose solutions. That may be the job of chaplains and self-help gurus. I see my job more as an act of exploration and learning on my part. And if the reader choses to come along on the journey with me, it’s quite the compliment and kindness. What’s more, the answers they come up with may be different than the ones I propose. So I choose to not hold the reader’s hand, but to let them have their own freedom. And in this poem, the fact that he is “trying” is maybe the best that any of us can hope for? Perhaps.
In any case, thank you so much for reading and responding! It means the world to me.
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A delightful reading on a sensitive topic.
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Thank you, Stephen!
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