{"id":42161,"date":"2019-01-06T22:11:22","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T04:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=42161"},"modified":"2023-11-13T13:57:36","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T19:57:36","slug":"jennifer-tonge-catafalque-seven-syllabic-acrostics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/jennifer-tonge-catafalque-seven-syllabic-acrostics\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Tonge: CATAFALQUE & seven syllabic acrostics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Paisley Rekdal.<\/p><\/div>\n

READ LOCAL First<\/strong>\u00a0represents Utah\u2019s\u00a0most comprehensive collection of\u00a0celebrated and promising writers of fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and memoir. This week we bring you poet Jennifer Tonge. Tonge resides in Salt Lake City and earned an MFA at the University of Utah. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and, most recently, as part of the Visible Poetry Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We begin with Jennifer\u2019s poem, CATAFALQUE, which originally appeared in the New England Review<\/em>. This poem is followed by\u00a0a series of syllabic acrostics in which the Turkish name of the title fruit runs down the poem’s left margin.\u00a0Tonge came up with the idea from the fruit she ate in Turkey while living there.\u00a0The poems are featured on Zoetic Press’s podcast The Literary Whip theliterarywhip.com.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

CATAFALQUE<\/p>\n

Stone and twig and chip,<\/p>\n

the world we walk<\/p>\n

immediate, sharp-edged.<\/p>\n

She is going,<\/p>\n

as the leaves are going<\/p>\n

copper, going red.<\/p>\n

This beautiful fall,<\/p>\n

like any fall,<\/p>\n

a pyre.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

This high basin,<\/p>\n

brimmed with mountains.<\/p>\n

Deer come down<\/p>\n

to the avenues,<\/p>\n

in the summer<\/p>\n

the gulls come in<\/p>\n

to the inland sea.<\/p>\n

The sky\u2019s come down<\/p>\n

to the mountains<\/p>\n

this year; the aspen<\/p>\n

-leaves strike it,<\/p>\n

the bone-like trunks<\/p>\n

of the birch<\/p>\n

are stark against it.<\/p>\n

The air is like glass,<\/p>\n

it makes everything<\/p>\n

crisp and near.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

When I go to the foothills,<\/p>\n

I look out at the basin;<\/p>\n

when I go to the basin,<\/p>\n

I look back at the mountains.<\/p>\n

The old conundrum,<\/p>\n

a tether at either end.<\/p>\n

I stand looking into<\/p>\n

a maple tree:<\/p>\n

This yellow has pushed<\/p>\n

through yellow, pushed<\/p>\n

through gold,<\/p>\n

is on its way<\/p>\n

into another realm,<\/p>\n

where it will find<\/p>\n

or be waiting for her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE TURKISH PEAR<\/p>\n

A moment of renunciation\u2014the world<\/p>\n

Recedes beneath the sudden flush, gilt with lutes’<\/p>\n

Minstrel notes. Each one flickers its tart edges,<\/p>\n

Undone by that whispering sweet, the same sly<\/p>\n

Tantalus that made you reach, that made you bite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE MUDANYA FIG<\/p>\n

If you would know me, you must break my skin\u2014see, it’s bruised<\/p>\n

Nearly black with readiness. It will just tauten, then<\/p>\n

Cleave and show my many constellations. Don’t grimace;<\/p>\n

Injury is part of every union. You want my<\/p>\n

Ruddy pulp; you can’t get it without using your teeth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE TURKISH MELON<\/p>\n

Khan’s favorite, from plateaus poised like cool hands<\/p>\n

Above fevered plains, rough-skinned site of his most<\/p>\n

Verdant longing; you think you know your own, but<\/p>\n

Under your hand it is changing\u2014not a globe,<\/p>\n

Now you’ve opened it. Hollow without its seeds\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE TURKISH APRICOT<\/p>\n

Keep to yourself your secret,<\/p>\n

absolute as ice. Should you<\/p>\n

yearn to tell, recall only<\/p>\n

in that unchaste split-second<\/p>\n

surrendering the last time\u2014how<\/p>\n

it took forever the tree\u2014<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE BURSA PEACH<\/p>\n

See if you can do this cleanly: the cleft velvet<\/p>\n

Envelopes\u2014no, purses\u2014unimaginable<\/p>\n

Fullness; it will gush at your bite, it will drench you.<\/p>\n

Think this hyperbole in what words you choose, staid<\/p>\n

Adam reaching, then know it in the flesh: it is<\/p>\n

Luscious beyond recall. But, you think, this region<\/p>\n

Is famed also for its baths and its thick, thick towels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE TURKISH SOUR-CHERRY<\/p>\n

Volition<\/p>\n

is such a<\/p>\n

shuddery<\/p>\n

net, it can’t<\/p>\n

ever hold.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE TURKISH PLUM<\/p>\n

Ever the beloved: first-fruit<\/p>\n

rich on the altar, soft landing<\/p>\n

in lap. Ever luscious, ever sere.<\/p>\n

Killingly do we covet it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

READ LOCAL First\u00a0represents Utah\u2019s\u00a0most comprehensive collection of\u00a0celebrated and promising writers of fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and memoir. This week we bring you poet Jennifer Tonge. Tonge resides in Salt Lake City and earned an MFA at the University of Utah. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1566,"featured_media":42162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,2513],"tags":[2414],"class_list":["post-42161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literary-arts","category-read-local-first","tag-jennifer-tonge"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/TongeCropped1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-01 14:53:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1566"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42161"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70757,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42161\/revisions\/70757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}