By Harry Northup on June 29, 2022
Harry E. Northup: Four Poems
Selected by Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor
To Ask for Love
The orange trees are 20 feet away
It’s the last day of April
In two days my wife would have been 82
It’s been 10 months since she died
Her body was orange blossom scent
Her poetry waterfall & baseball
Our mouths spoke bodies
Violets & earrings
Baths I helped her into
Roses & chrysanthemums
In the night of darkness
She found me
Up the stairs to a large bathroom
A burgundy sofa
Beads to the bedroom
Our bodies naked in the afternoon
She brought slices of cheese
Thick ones of bread, white wine
To lie naked in the breeze
Our bodies never ended meeting
We sang in a quiet home
No one touched our walls
4 30 20
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One year ago tomorrow
One year ago tomorrow I drove
my wife Holly to ER, West Hills Hospital
She never returned home
I was with her day & night
She died six days later
Small green stems several inches high
are growing around & below
thirteen orange trees
in front of several full-bloomed jacarandas
Sometimes I say I can’t go on
without my wife
Shadows lengthen & birds fly
She saw me for who I was
My hands hold her naked hips
I rest my head on her breast
Kiss her neck & shoulder
Caresses like jacaranda blossoms
in the breeze
The shadows almost touch each other
6 7 2020
*
Her Body
Death has a new lover
I never wanted to share
Holly with anyone but Dylan
My son who loved her
Whom she loved
Her body for me only
No men no women no doctors
Her breasts, neck, hair, shoulders
She resurrected me
I get so fucking lonely
Without her
Her body next to me in bed
Beside me in the car, movie
We shared our poetry
I bought fresh halibut, swordfish,
She cooked, made salads
“Her poems are like her salads”
(Depth, layers, many ingredients,
Tasty, nourishing, fresh)
Death took her
She lives in fresh water, moonlight,
Magnolia blossoms, Eastern lilacs —
They have a nice fragrance
6 30 20
*
Far From the Center of Competition
A small burnished red leaf falls on my wrist
I cup it in my hand as I did her hand
There’s a beauty in its fall & land
Even the varied, lighter colors along its center
With lines radiating upwards
Give me hope & comfort
In its texture & touch of nature
On the outskirts of a city
How long can I hold a leaf so full
Of life though no longer connected
I place it on words in my shadow
Emotions evoked without its body
Without my holding
Such is love in a retirement home
12 2 2020
All the poems are from Harry E. Northup’s book LOVE’S ELEGIES
Photo credit: Alexis Rhone Fancher
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Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Harry E. Northup, a poet & actor, has had twelve books of poetry published, the latest being: Love Poem to MPTF (Cahuenga Press, 2015). He received his B.A. in English from C.S.U.N., where he studied Verse with Ann Stanford. Northup made a living as an actor for thirty-four years, acting in thirty-seven films, including "Mean Streets" (1973), "Taxi Driver" (1976 Palme d'Or Winner at Cannes), "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991 Oscar Winner for Best Picture); he starred in the acclaimed cult film, "Over the Edge." Harry has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1976. Lewis MacAdams, in the L.A. Weekly, wrote, "Northup is the poet laureate of East Hollywood.” Additionally, Northup has produced 89 segments of Harry's Poetry Hour, Creative Chaos MPTF. programs, 69 of them have been posted on MPTF STUDIOS HARRY'S POETRY HOUR YOUTUBE. Poet Carol Muske-Dukes wrote, "You deserve great thanks for your generous effort in bringing Harry's Poetry Hour to fruition. Thank you again for giving poetry a voice and image during this pandemic -- and beyond. You are a steady poetry beacon in these daunting times!"
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