R. Nikolas Macioci

Memory brings us back to childhood when every sensation was raw, immediate and pure.

Here’s a poem by R. Nikolas Macioci (born 1965?) who won a number of poetry competitions, including the 1987 National Writers’ Union Poetry Competition judged by Denise Levertov.

On the Edge of Celebration

I remember family
reunion picnics, times
swaddled in July’s heat,
the sweet, cotton scent of old folks,
explosions of conversation
sprinkled with helpless laughter.

I remember as a distant horseshoe clanged,
I, too, became distant, eyes turned
like arms to hold the woods.
As soon as I could, I unwound
like string from the spool of watchful
authority and bounded
into the spell of sunshine,
an instant anesthetic that
washed my face yellow-white.

I sauntered along paths, glad
of separation. I plundered
steamy greenness with sideward
glances, eavesdropped on insect messages,
savored the variety of silences.
Filled with relief, I basked
in a vivid sense of everything
family couldn’t give me.

R. Nikolas Macioci, from “Cafes of Childhood”, Pearl Edition (1991)