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Good Words
For Larry Kramer (d. 2001)
I like Commitment, the
way it brings lips together,
warm and firm; and Something—I
like
Somethingvery much for its
expectancy;
Correspondbecause it’s fonder
than “communicate,”
and Renegade because
it’s fast. Supplicant is a
good word, can’t really be spoken without a slight bow
of the head and a respectful countenance.
I love Renascence
(emphasis on the 2nd
syllable) and Hurry,
best whispered into an ear.
Alone is more dignified than “lonely.”I’d rather
Createthan “build,” Shout, than “holler,” wait, than “stop.”
Homelyis a better, kinder
word than “ugly” and
allows possibility of improvement in the
same way Perhaps gives
more leeway than “maybe.”
Shadowis a lovely word—it
looks its best when written
cursively.In fact, Cursive is a pretty word,
imparts a certain posture that appeals to me.
There are the obvious favorites:Sensual, Velvet,
Charismatic, Revelation.They are what they say
they are.They roll forward to
meet the imagination.
Caramelis a fine word—on the
same level, I’d say,
with Pashima and Whirlwind.What good words!What
active,
enterprising, delicious words!Then this last:Conclude.
More final, I think, more legitimate, less obsessed
than “finish,” “terminate,” “end,” or “close.”
Martina Reisz Newberry is the author of LIMA BEANS AND CITY CHICKEN: MEMORIES
OF THE OPEN HEARTH—a memoir of my father—published by E.P. Dutton and Co. in 1989.
(A chapter from the above-mentioned book was published in Cosmopolitan Magazine in January 1988.)
She is also the author of THE STAR JASMINE CLUB—AN ADULT FABLE, a novel purchased by E.P.
Dutton & Co. in 1991.
She was the winner of i.e. magazine’s Editor’s Choice Poetry Chapbook Prize for 1998:
AN APPARENT, APPROACHABLE LIGHT. She has written four novels and several books of poetry
and has been widely published in literary magazines such as: 5 AM, Amelia, Bellingham Review,
Black Buzzard Review, Cape Rock, Connecticut Poetry Review, Context South, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal,
Hob Nob, i.e.,Innisfree, Iowa Woman, New Laurel Review, Passages North, Piedmont Literary Review, Snake Nation
Review, Sonora Review, Southern Review of Poetry, Touchstone, Willow Review ,Women's Work, and many others.
She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Poetry by poet Andrew Hudgins
Scheduled for publication in 2005: Running Like a Woman With Her Hair on Fire/Poetry by
Martina Reisz Newberry; Red Hen Press, Los Angeles, CA
She has had residencies at Yaddo, Djerassi, and Anderson Center colonies for the arts.
She lives in Hollywood with her husband, Brian and her cat, Gato. She is happier than any one has any right to be.
Email: Martina Reisz Newberry
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