<div class="line">The first pass along the whetting stone</div>
<div class="line">creates an edge too fine to last;</div>
<div class="line">the second, more blunting pass</div>
<div class="line">tempers the edge into usefulness.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Together we used to hone blades</div>
<div class="line">so unutterably precise</div>
<div class="line">tomatoes would slice themselves</div>
<div class="line">open to expose their reddest flesh.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Later, in the restaurant’s kitchen,</div>
<div class="line">when the head chef needed a knife,</div>
<div class="line">screaming in French, he came to her</div>
<div class="line">station and used one of hers.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">She told me this with pride one night,</div>
<div class="line">then put her hand on my chest</div>
<div class="line">and cried stainless steel tears</div>
<div class="line">I could not understand.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">When she jumped from the window</div>
<div class="line">and they searched the apartment,</div>
<div class="line">they found in the bathroom a knife,</div>
<div class="line">its edge unbloodied, as sharp as a razor.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">And I keep thinking of the second pass,</div>
<div class="line">how it sharpens as it dulls the working edge,</div>
<div class="line">how the one has a real and necessary need</div>
<div class="line">of the other to do what it does.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/MaliPass.mp3"></audio></figure>

Self-Portrait as Elizabeth Holmes

The Weight

The Second Pass

<div class="line4">is what it clearly said</div>
<div class="line">on the handle of the magnifying glass</div>
<div class="line">my father received on his fifth birthday.</div>
<div class="line">He took it as a warning; the birthday gift</div>
<div class="line">would only work its magic ten times</div>
<div class="line">and no more, becoming, after that,</div>
<div class="line">just a small round window with no miracle,</div>
<div class="line">toy giant’s monocle, a circle of simple glass.</div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">And so he went about his days with curious thrift,</div>
<div class="line">weighing how much he needed to see any part</div>
<div class="line">of the world up close, observing as best he could</div>
<div class="line">with his own eyes first, thinking, <i>Do I need to see</i></div>
<div class="line"><i>that dead bug big? That dandelion, that blade</i></div>
<div class="line"><i>of grass, that wriggling moth in the spider’s web?</i></div>
<div class="line"><i>I can imagine most of nature’s gifts and crimes.</i></div>
<div class="line"><i>Best not to waste one of my ten precious times. </i></div>
<div class="line"> </div>
<div class="line">He lost count of how many miracles he’d left,</div>
<div class="line">and for weeks after half-expected the magic of the glass</div>
<div class="line">to simply stop. And I have asked him to tell me</div>
<div class="line">of the thrilling moment he realized, or was told,</div>
<div class="line">“ten times” in this context simply meant <i>tenfold</i></div>
<div class="line">and not ten instances, but he cannot remember.</div>
<div class="line">Likewise the joy that must have come with such</div>
<div class="line">a limitless epiphany. But what he does recall</div>
<div class="line">and says most he misses still is the way the magic</div>
<div class="line">made him see the world the rest of the time,</div>
<div class="line">not through the glass, but all the time</div>
<div class="line">he thought that magic would not last.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/MaliMagnifies.mp3"></audio></figure>

Long Shot

My Breath Is Recycled

Magnifies an Object Ten Times

<div class="line">My son tried three times to ask me</div>
<div class="line">for something, but never got further than</div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">Daddy, can I … um? Can I … um? Can I … um?</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">So I asked him if Canayam was a new kid in his class</div>
<div class="line">because there is already a Kinaya and a Nayan,</div>
<div class="line">and it seemed like a pretty good guess</div>
<div class="line">and an awesome Dad joke all rolled into one.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">And that was the day that Canayam Buttsworth was born.</div>
<div class="line">And yes, his last name is Buttsworth. And as it turns out</div>
<div class="line">he is not in my son’s class but is rather the central actor</div>
<div class="line">in the common history he is creating for himself. Not so much</div>
<div class="line">an imaginary friend as someone he can mention casually in conversation</div>
<div class="line">as having done things that my son has only ever heard about.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">For instance, you might not know this, but Canayam Buttsworth</div>
<div class="line">goes to work every day at AM/PM o’clock. Why?</div>
<div class="line">Because someone has to pay for the money.</div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth is a fireman, a policeman,</div>
<div class="line">an astronaut, and a great white shark.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth likes blackberries, Pirate’s Booty,</div>
<div class="line">and bubble baths with his little sister. Incidentally,</div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth has a penis and a ji-nah.</div>
<div class="line">It’s true. Because Canayam Buttsworth is five years old,</div>
<div class="line">but also six, a hundred, and the same age as Daddy,</div>
<div class="line">which is like forty-twenty-sixty years old.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth once jumped off the top</div>
<div class="line">of the Empire State Building and died</div>
<div class="line">like Abraham Lincoln of ballistic trauma.</div>
<div class="line">He also died of pleurisy like Benjamin Franklin</div>
<div class="line">a long, long time ago, like forty-twenty-sixty years ago.</div>
<div class="line">But now he is alive and well and living in Seattle with</div>
<div class="line">Grandma and Grandpa.</div>
<div class="line">If dreams are where the mind churns and jumbles</div>
<div class="line">through the flotsam of the recent past, then</div>
<div class="line">the person who does that for my son while he is awake</div>
<div class="line">is none other than Buttsworth, Canayam Buttsworth.</div>
<div class="line">And if sometimes I embellish his exploits, it’s only because</div>
<div class="line">I love saying his name, and poetry is what does that for me,</div>
<div class="line">how I make sense of the world when I am in need of healing</div>
<div class="line">I cannot find elsewhere. Which reminds me that Canayam Buttsworth</div>
<div class="line">is a widower who didn’t know if he would ever love again</div>
<div class="line">or have children. Whose heart was shattered</div>
<div class="line">into forty-twenty-sixty pieces.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">But somehow he has survived.</div>
<div class="line">And he wears a mask made out of his own underpants,</div>
<div class="line">and he peers out through the leg holes with x-ray eyes.</div>
<div class="line">Because as you have no doubt figured out by now,</div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth is a superhero.</div>
<div class="line">Did I mention that he has a penis and a ji-nah!?</div>
<div class="line">Canayam Buttsworth can fly underwater.</div>
<div class="line">And he writes poems, too. And he can fix anything.</div>
<div class="line">Just like you, Daddy. Just like you.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/MaliSense.mp3"></audio></figure>

A Love Letter for Home

Still Attached

Making Sense of the World

<div class="line">I used to say I was <span style="font-style: italic;">horrible at names</span> when I first met people</div>
<div class="line">until I realized I was actually just asking for forgiveness</div>
<div class="line">in advance for not even attempting to remember. Ever.</div>
<div class="line">I’d say, <span style="font-style: italic;">I’m sorry, but I’m horrible at names</span>, as I shook each hand</div>
<div class="line">and looked each new person in the eye, but inside I’d be thinking,</div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">Now that I’ve warned you, I don’t even actually have to try.</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">I have since made myself good at names, better than I used to be.</div>
<div class="line">No actually, I suspect I may now be better than most people</div>
<div class="line">at remembering names. But only because I suspect most people</div>
<div class="line">have never looked at the list of their life’s priorities and simply</div>
<div class="line">promised to elevate <span style="font-style: italic;">Remembering the Names of Other People </span></div>
<div class="line">a few places higher than wherever it has been languishing.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line1"><span style="font-style: italic;">God, what a difference it makes in how a person feels</span></div>
<div class="line1"><span style="font-style: italic;">when you do them the simple honor of remembering their name.</span></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">My new motto became <span style="font-style: italic;">I will thank the bartender by name, Frances, </span></div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">every time I tip her</span>. Until the day Frances, the regular bartender</div>
<div class="line">at my local dive, said <span style="font-style: italic;">Don’t get me wrong. I love Frances, </span></div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">but in what universe do I look anything like her? </span></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">Nothing has ever made me feel older or more out of touch</div>
<div class="line">with my world than realizing that the most important thing</div>
<div class="line">about Frances to me was apparently where I expected her to be.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">And I knew that was just plain wrong.</div>
<div class="line">So I tipped her. Mallory. That was her name.</div>
<div class="line">I gave Mallory a good tip.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">This morning at my local breakfast joint, I ask my waiter,</div>
<div class="line">who is awesome, if his name is Delroy. Because it’s either that</div>
<div class="line">or it’s Elroy. I am not confused between the two names, no.</div>
<div class="line">Rather, there are actually two different guys who work this shift</div>
<div class="line">on different days, and one of them is named Elroy.</div>
<div class="line">And because I am <span style="font-style: italic;">almost certain</span> that this guy, my waiter today,</div>
<div class="line">is not him, I say, <span style="font-style: italic;">Your name is Delroy, right? </span></div>
<div class="line">I take a guess at a black man’s name because I am now better</div>
<div class="line">than I used to be.</div>
<div class="line4">And it turns out that I am right.</div>
<div class="line">But of course I’m right because one of them has dreadlocks.</div>
<div class="line">Actually they both do, but Elroy has a full grown beard</div>
<div class="line">while Delroy just hasn’t shaved in a while.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">It must be obvious what I’m thinking because Delroy says,</div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">Brother, if you had called me Elroy, I would have let it slide. </span></div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">We’re both from the Caribbean and those are common names there.</span></div>
<div class="line"><span style="font-style: italic;">So in fact</span>, he adds, <span style="font-style: italic;">we are basically exactly the same person.</span></div>
<div class="line">And I knew that was just plain wrong.</div>
<div class="line">So I tip him, Delroy. I give him a good tip.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/MaliNames.mp3"></audio></figure>

Birds Aren’t Real Abecedarian

Horrible at Names

<p class="epil"><i>for A.M.</i></p>
<div class="line">My toddler son looks up at me and says,</div>
<div class="line">as I have many times to him, <i>You are my son!</i></div>
<div class="line">His palm pressed against his chest to show</div>
<div class="line">his sincerity—again, I guess, just like me.</div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">No, <i>you are my son</i>, I say as I scoop him up</div>
<div class="line">and lay him gently on his bed. He frowns,</div>
<div class="line">and something in how he cocks his head says</div>
<div class="line">he’s thinking, <i>But that’s exactly what I said!</i></div>
<div> </div>
<div class="line">I give him a kiss and consider, while turning out</div>
<div class="line">the light, how he might be right and his words true.</div>
<div class="line">As if by some magic, at least for tonight,</div>
<div class="line">the father speaking through my son is you.</div><figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://admin.rattle.com/audio/MaliSon.mp3"></audio></figure>

The Countdown

The Ancients and Us

The Father Speaking Through My Son

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name

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Cursor used along with the "first" argument to reference where in the dataset to get data

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Unique cache key to be produced when this query is stored in an object cache. Default is 'core'.

Term ID to retrieve child terms of. If multiple taxonomies are passed, $child_of is ignored. Default 0.

True to limit results to terms that have no children. This parameter has no effect on non-hierarchical taxonomies. Default false.

Retrieve terms where the description is LIKE the input value. Default empty.

Array of term ids to exclude. If $include is non-empty, $exclude is ignored. Default empty array.

Array of term ids to exclude along with all of their descendant terms. If $include is non-empty, $exclude_tree is ignored. Default empty array.

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Array of object IDs. Results will be limited to terms associated with these objects.

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Field(s) to order terms by. Defaults to 'name'.

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Parent term ID to retrieve direct-child terms of. Default empty.

Search criteria to match terms. Will be SQL-formatted with wildcards before and after. Default empty.

Array of slugs to return term(s) for. Default empty.

Array of term taxonomy IDs, to match when querying terms.

Whether to prime meta caches for matched terms. Default true.

Connection between the ProductVariation type and the TermNode type

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Connection between the Product type and the TermNode type

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Connection between the ProductVariation type and the shippingClass type

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December 31, 2018Taylor MaliThe Father Speaking Through My Son

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December 31, 2018Taylor MaliThe Father Speaking Through My Son

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Magnifies an Object Ten Times by Taylor Mali

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