Gary Percesepe

The Winter of J Gary Percesepe

Winter is a season of the heart. The Winter of J is a collection of poems set in Buffalo, New York, where Gary Percesepe spent twelve years--one winter falling in and out of love with J, and taking an axe to the frozen sea inside.

though we parted that spring the roads
kept freezing and thawing between snows
until the weak sun wakened me and I realized
our love had made me thinner.

From First Date and new love:

She was hair and bruises with a shot of ragamuffin

my thoughts slowed to the pace of
drifting snow

to blizzards and frozen rivers blued from bridge lights, we come inevitably to Breakup--

she will appear
like a cutting stone
her laughter a fresh sword

Finding resolution at last in acceptance, but not without lingering questions:

can memory freeze in place like this?

The Winter of J is a lyrical meditation on love and temporality. With the poet, we wonder how such a short span of time can have such a lasting impact, while marveling again at the resiliency of the human heart:

the poet amounted his affair
summed it at five months
licked his ice cream cone
and melted
We know these women only from their leavings.
We love to watch them go.