That word torqued, auditorily, like talkativity passing a door: whoso can enter this club of come-and-go, to-and-fro, gleans life better than life itself. Why? Recollection’s fragments assemble into a work that passes not, but lingers, magisterially. This club serves it at the bar. If it weren’t deadly, I’d smoke cigars and drink whiskey, feet propped up behind a newspaper lowered only for arrivals and pretty girls. The paint! A chip fell from the ceiling where a leak snuck through the membrane, then flung plaster on my favorite threadbare couch. Here’s where I’m at home. Here, among the worn-out furniture, snapping back from a sudden nap.
Lawrence Bridges is best known for his work in the film and literary worlds. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, and The Tampa Review. He has published three volumes of poetry: Horses on Drums, Flip Days, and Brownwood. As a filmmaker, he created a series of literary documentaries for the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read initiative, which include profiles of Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff, and Cynthia Ozick. His photographs have appeared in the Las Laguna Art Gallery 2020, Humana Obscura, Wanderlust, the London Photo Festival, and have been displayed in the ENSO Art Gallery, Malibu, California. Find him online at lawrencebridges.com and on Instagram @larrybridges.