The Sunday Poet: Neil Silberblatt

 

  Neil Silberblatt

 Neil Silberblatt’s poems have appeared in various journals, including Poetica Magazine, The Otter, The Aurorean, Two Bridges Review, Verse Wisconsin, Naugatuck River Review, WordPeace, Chantarelle’s Notebook, and The Good Men Project. His work has been included in the anthology, Confluencia in the Valley: The First Five Years of Converging with Words (Naugatuck Valley Community College, 2013); and in University of Connecticut’s Teacher-Writer magazine. He has published two poetry collections: So Far, So Good (2012), and Present Tense (2013) and is hard at work on a third collection, tentatively titled Past Imperfect.

He has been nominated (twice) for a Pushcart Prize, and one of his poems received Honorable Mention in the 2nd Annual OuterMost Poetry Contest (2014), judged by Marge Piercy. Neil is the founder of Voices of Poetry - which, since 2012, has presented poetry events, featuring distinguished poets & writers, at various venues throughout CT, NYC and MA - and the host of Poet's Corner on WOMR/WFMR, for which he has interviewed acclaimed poets on and off of Cape Cod.

 How to Build a Fire

Start slowly,

no, slower

with longing or, perhaps,

a lemon cut along its pregnant midsection and

squeezed over plump scallops seared to a walnut

finish while their flesh recalls the ocean.

Nurse it with desire or, perhaps,

garlic roasted until its sweet pulp emerges

Minerva-like from its parchment skin, like Torah scrolls

whose crowned letters leap from flames.

Only then, add touch or, perhaps,

logs whose air pockets wait to be emptied

by pickpocket flames, releasing ash fireflies

like so many copper pennies scattered onto

the night’s floor.

Skip the fire pit.

You don’t even need matches.

Just start with kindling or, perhaps,

a poem about kindling.