Oklahoma native Patricia Bassel says poetry has never been more important than it is right now because of its singular ability to break down walls and bring people and communities together. She shares her poem, “In the Evening He Reads His Way into the Next Dream.”
Patricia Bassel: It’s an artform that we need very much in the world, especially right now. Poetry really taps into a lot of just raw emotions, and I think poetry can just bring us to question what’s important and what’s needed. For me there was always something subliminal in me that was touched by poetry. I would read poetry, I would buy poetry books. And then as a French major, I loved reading French poetry—Rimbaud, Prévert. It filled a creative need.
The poem is about my dad. And it was during a time that he was aging. He had some memory loss and dementia. His physical stamina was waning. But he always was very sensitive to art, nature, books. And it was interesting, we were listening to a radio station one afternoon, and this beautiful song, Borodin’s “Prince Igor,” came on the radio and he was just so moved by it, even had a few tears. And so, I remember that and wanted to write about it so there we have this poem.
In the Evening He Reads His Way into the Next Dream
(father at 75)
where I whisper a fairy tale that will be lost in memory.
He is not too old to see the beauty of moving fish under murky water,
the overgrown garden bathed in midsummer sunshine,
or the children’s stories in which he recognizes his own.
When the music of Borodin’s Prince Igor swells on the radio,
he breathes in every intricate, hard-earned musical note.
But the arms that once lifted me in the air are paler.
They lack the color of summer on the combine,
the energy that reached for paint on his palette in winter,
the strength that carried the heavy load of detailed planning
for camping trips in summer. Autumn pulls him from the world around me
like a leaf that dangles from the tree. It doesn’t hold on to the branch forever.
About the author:
Poet Patricia Bassel’s first poetry book, “House in Love Country,” was published in 2023. Several of her pieces have also been published in Oklahoma Today Magazine. She has a keen sense of place, a lifelong wanderlust and currently lives in Lawton, Oklahoma where she enjoys hiking in the Wichita Mountains.
About the host:
Steven Law is the co-producer of KNAU’s series PoetrySnaps! He is a poet, essayist, storyteller, and the author of Polished, a collection of poems about exploring the Colorado Plateau by foot and by raft.
About the music:
Original music by the Flagstaff-based band Pilcrowe.
Poetry Snaps is produced by KNAU Arizona Public Radio and airs the third Friday of each month.
