Message From The Memoirist

by Paul Pines

Overview

Poetry. With art by Marc Shanker. "It is rare to find a poet so attuned to silence, that time—and space—between words, which for Paul Pines is 'the abyss / of mind-before-thought.' His practice is to listen for patterns in the silence, which turn to whispers and then into these wise poems."—Michael Coffey

"If the origin of consciousness is a wound, would it not be logical that someone looking back might observe that life has been mostly sadness with moments of joy? What to do with such a conclusion? Perhaps there'd be time to lighten the darkness by forging the 'ability to contain the tears in things.' Paul Pines does just this in MESSAGE FROM THE MEMOIRIST. The 'Memoirist' as defined by Pines 'understands that Memory is not a bin where pieces are stored and retrieved but a field in which the Soul's narrative continues to unfold.' Poems—such as the ones in this book—are resonant effects of a Soul's unfolding."—Eileen Tabios

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939929280
Publisher:	Dos Madres Press
Publication date:	04/15/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	152
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Paul Pines grew up in Brooklyn around the corner from Ebbet's Field and passed the early 60s on the Lower East Side of New York. He shipped out as a merchant seaman, spending 65-66 in Vietnam, after which he drove a taxi and tended bar until he opened his jazz club, The Tin Palace, in 1973. It became the setting for his novel The Tin Angel (Morrow, 1983). Redemption (Editions du Rocher, 1997), a second novel, is set against the genocide of Guatemalan Mayans. His memoir, My Brother's Madness (Curbstone Press, 2007), explores the unfolding of intertwined lives. He has published twelve books of poetry: Onion; Hotel Madden Poems; Pines Songs; Breath; ADRIFT ON BLINDING LIGHT (Ikon, Inc., 2003); TAXIDANCING (Ikon, Inc., 2007); LAST CALL AT THE TIN PALACE (Marsh Hawk Press, 2009); REFLECTIONS IN A SMOKING MIRROR (Dos Madres Press, 2011); DIVINE MADNESS (Marsh Hawk Press, 2012); NEW ORLEANS VARIATIONS & PARIS OUROBOROS (Dos Madres Press, 2013); FISHING ON THE POLE STAR (Dos Madres Press, 2014); and MESSAGE FROM THE MEMOIRIST (Dos Madres Press, 2015). Poems set by composer Daniel Asia appear on the Summit label, and opposite Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai, in his 5th Symphony recorded by the Pilsen Symphony. Pines is the editor of Juan Gelman's selected poems translated by Hardie St. Martin, Dark Times/ Filled with Light (Open Letters Press, 2012). He lives with his wife, Carol, in Glens Falls, NY, where he practices as a psychotherapist and hosts the Lake George Jazz Weekend.