"To An Absence" by Brian Brodeur

Content Warning: Abortion, dead fetusesMea culpa: Ugh, I should've said "volta italiana." What a philistine I am. Topics discussed in this episode include: -Lake View Cemetery and the Haserot Angel -Getting called out from beyond the grave-Come see me read!  -Brian Brodeur!  -My Great-Uncle, Elton Glaser -Buy Brian's latest book: Some Problems With Autobiography -Wins and almost-wins in The Kim Bridgford Memorial Sonnet Contest. -Yet more ways to make formal poems sound contemporary -The art of rhymes that don't rhyme -Another hybrid sonnet? -The triumphant return of the pyrrhic-spondee. -When Facebook stalking is part of podcast research-Radford's Meat Market is real. -The dark truth by which we see-The haunting of Brian Brodeur-Is guilt itself a crime?-Displacement Activity -Verbal dentistry-How joy is deepened by suffering-A dripping bag of redemption Text of poem:To An AbsenceThe kid in latex gloves at Radford’s beefbrown-bags my five-pound brisket, saying, “Dude,have a blessed day.” I do the math—you’d bea teenager, his age. Across the counter,the brisket drips (the kid grinning, “My bad”),but all I feel for you is gratitudefor the life your death allowed—my wife and daughterI’d like one day to see I might deserve. And would deserve, I think, if I could livewithout the guilt I tongue like a decayedincisor I’ve refused to have removed—afraid what joy I’ve known might disappear without a counter-pain to root it here. The kid says, “Wait,” and stamps my brisket PAID. Support the showVISIT MY WEBSITE HERE.BUY VERSECRAFT MERCH HERE.VISIT THE VERSECRAFT SUBSTACK HERE.Please subscribe, rate, and review! Thanks so much for listening.You can leave me a tip, support the podcast, or request a commission here! TikTok:  @versecraftSend me a note at: [email protected] favorite poetry podcasts for: Sharp thoughts and cutting truths (Matthew): Sleerickets  Lovely introspection and sensitive reflection (Alice): Poetry Says The landscape of Ohioan poetry (Jeremy): Poetry Spotlight  Supported in part by The Ohio Poetry AssociationArt by David Anthony KlugList of the most common metrical feet: Iamb: weak-STRONG (u /)Trochee: STRONG-weak (/ u)Anapest: weak-weak-STRONG (u u /)Amphibrach: weak-STRONG-weak (u / u)Dactyl: STRONG-weak-weak (/ u u)Cretic: STRONG-weak-STRONG (/ u /)Pyrrhic: weak-weak (u u)Spondee: STRONG-STRONG (/ /)