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When I was thirteen, my brother and I learned the magic
of riding our bikes backwards.
To picture this, you’ll have to imagine
that we were younger than the summer afternoon,
young enough to sit on the handlebars
facing the seats and pedaling counterclockwise.
We turned back the clock,
held off the evening until stars punctured the cobalt dome.
Unsurprisingly, learning this most necessary skill,
we fell until our hands were raw as history,
pages cupped with pooling blood,
droplets of the pain we insisted upon ourselves.
Looking back now, I realize that this spell I wove
was as much for him as it was for me.
And on that final day
when we learned to balance
—whoops at the miracle of being upright and in motion—
I can see the both of us
laughing, riding in endless circles
round and round one another
so we could see this magic in one another:
riding until the summer dark broke through our simple spell
darkness descending upon us.
Yes, we never wanted to leave that
Glorious
moment
behind.
ISBN 1-59661-101-4
35 pages/$9
As a longtime fan of Dave Holper’s work, I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing
the steady refinement of his craft and art, and am here to testify—as this
present collection so aptly does—that Dave has an exceptional ability to
illuminate the small graces of daily life. These poems accomplish what poetry
commonly sets out to do: open the moment; extend our identities; refresh
attention; and bring another fine, clear voice to the song we’re all singing.
—Jim Dodge,
author of Fup
and Rain on the River
In this wise and compassionate collection, Dave Holper explores the mysteries
of language, nature, and everyday life with warmth and good humor. His gift to
us is his faith, his wit, and his sense of purpose. Poetry should make us more
human, more alive, and more generous of spirit, and this is what 64 Questions
does for me.
—Amy Stewart,
author of Flower Confidential
and The Earth Moved
“Start with something simple,” instructs David Holper. And he, himself, does
just this. These are poems that take the daily and the often overlooked—a cup
of coffee, a chickadee, matches, kindling, shoelaces, and leaves—and open out
into such wide emotional and spiritual terrain. These poems enact what it means
to take the ordinary and pay attention; they reveal, so beautifully, the
miraculous within the mundane.
—Jude Nutter,
author of The Curator of Silence
and I Wish I Had a Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman
David Holper has published in Grand Street, The New Virginia Review, Stories,
Callaloo, Quarterly West, South Carolina Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, The Rambler,
The Kerf, and Toyon. He lives in Eureka, California, far from the madness
of civilization.