The Composer Steps into the Fire
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
catacombs
Entire cities are buried within me.
Every morning is a wake for the departed.
No one is missing entirely.
When I lie down I feel tombs shift under my skin.
Every morning is a wake for the departed.
They reside below the topsoil, inside my chest.
When I lie down I feel tombs shift under my skin.
Each year my catacombs deepen.
They reside below the topsoil, inside my chest.
I am cluttered as a Jewish graveyard.
Each year my catacombs deepen.
Each year another city turns to bone and disappears.
marble shark teeth
I keep the wheels spinning
as smoothly as I can
as if I am carrying a serving tray
stacked with tumblers filled
with the most exquisite liquor
ever extracted from wormwood.
I am carrying this tray at 70 mph
over wet pavement, trying
not to spill a drop
or even cause ripples
in these tiny oceans.
The highway
is a smoky piano bar at
The regulars look at my car
as if it’s a foreigner – and it is.
I drive in silence, in darkness.
The vacuum of my senses
conjures images out of darkness
as if it were made of marble.
Like sharks in dark water,
these memories wait until
I am floating peacefully.
I find every memory I’ve abandoned
wandering the shoulders of dark highways.
Headlights flash against them like deer
standing, waiting to cross.
She is asleep in the back seat.
A change of direction (like an exit ramp)
or a change of speed (like a traffic jam)
will pull her awake.
My white-knuckled hands are firm
on the ridges of the wheel.
My eyes, red veined and fatigued, focus
on the white line in the center of the road
flashing in and out of sight.
I keep my distance from everyone
so that the wake of their travel
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Book Details
About the Book
The Composer Steps into the Fire is the second book of poems from performance poet, Joseph Kerschbaum. Building off his debut book, The Human Remains (published 2002), Kerschbaum delves even deeper into his subjects. The cycle of poems in this book evolve from memories of warm youth, into a world where the sky rains the debris of skyscrapers. The world is not what we always want it to be, but the magic of this book is that it also shows us that sometimes the world is what we want it to be, we just need to look past ourselves and accept love and peace in their various forms. With The Composer Steps into the Fire Kerschbaum makes a bold statement and we hope the composer has not completely burnt away, and that there is even more to follow.
About the Author
Joseph Kerschbaum has performed his poetry at numerous venues around the country. He has been a featured performer at festivals such as the Bucktown Arts Fest, the Etheridge Knight Festival of the Arts, as well as Heartland Incantations, a reading series that celebrates Hoosier poets. Joseph is a member of the Bloomington Pie Cutters, a team of poets that competes within the Midwest Poetry Slam League as well as the Rustbelt Regional Poetry Slam. Joseph is also a member of the poetry troupe Stendhal’s Syndrome with fellow poets Tony Brewer, Jenfish Superstar and Jason Ammerman. In October, 2002, Joseph released his first full-length collection of poems, The Human Remains. In August, 2003, he released his first spoken word CD, 1 of 29. The Composer Steps into the Fire is Joseph’s second full-length collection of poems.
For contact and booking information please contact the publisher or visit: http://joseph.matrixmag.com