---

Contents

ZOLTÁN BÖSZÖRMÉNYI
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE ELLIPSE OF MERCY
  LEGLESS TIME
  THE POEM DIDN'T JOIN THE CLASS STRUGGLE
  WELCOME VISITORS
  AND IT'S THE MONEY EVERYWHERE
  FOREST AND FIELD
  THE ELLIPSE OF MERCY
  NIKOLA TESLA'S WHITE DOVE
  OF THINGS
  ON WILLPOWER
  THE FACE
  HOW SMOOTHLY LIES CAN LIE
  KODÁLY CIRCLE IS IN THE PHOTO
  IN THE RED SQUARE OF MOSCOW
  WHAT PHAIDROS FORGOT TO ASK SOCRATES
  THE MORPHEMES OF THOUGHT
  RIVOLTA CONTRO IL MONDO
  DE OMNI RE SCIBILI
  NEVER-ENDING LOVEMAKING
  THE CONSCIENCE OF TREES

THE DUST OF MY EXISTENCE
  FOOTPRINT
  HUGE YELLOW FAIRY TALES
  AT LAST
  SEASIDE MORNING WITH HEIDEGGER
  NECESSITY
  UNCLE SPACE WAVES
  BREATHING TERRAINS
  MORNING IN BARBADOS
  THE FABRIC
  SMILEY FACE
  SPEAR-FISHERMEN
  BALLAD OF PAIN
  BLACK SEAGULL
  BRUISED BIRD
  MORNING IN SAN FRANCISCO
  CATHEDRAL OF ETERNAL WINTER
  VISIT TO THE OLD COLLEGE TOWN
  EMPTY TRAINS
  DE ARTIS POETICAE NATURA
  GOD NEVER WROTE TO A MORTAL AS TOUCHINGLY
  ANOTHER KIND OF SUMMER
  SYMMETRY
  GLEAM SLIVER
  THE DUST OF MY EXISTENCE
  SEVEN BIRDS
  IT'S SNOWING IN THE BOWER
  LEARNING TO FLY
  THE WIND
  CONNECTING
  NINE OCTAVES
  TAKING ASHES UP THE HILL
  INVENTORY

THE MIRAGE OF OUR FATE
  THE MIRAGE OF OUR FATE
  FRANCESCO PETRARCA
  A WALK BY THE ARNO RIVER
  SPINOZA REDUX
  ON THE POND OF SPACE
  RENDEZVOUS
  ONLY HANDS AND FEET AND HEADS...
  PASSWORDS TO IMMORTALITY
  THE CUSTOMS AGENT'S SINGLE FLOWER
  BALLAD OF NEW YORK
  WAKING MÁRAI
  HOLIDAY FEVER
  REMEMBERING KOLOZSVÁR
  THE MAGIC RECIPE
  IN THE CORRIDORS OF HISTORY
  UPDIKE
  LOVE IN VENICE
  FOR GÉZA SZŐCS'S SIXTIETH BIRTHDAY
  FIVE-STAR POEM DE LUXE
  DARK LIGHT

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

---

Foreword

"Zoltán Böszörményi's voice rises pure and truth-filled to join the poets not alone of middle-Europe, but of the world. This is a poetry whose DNA is sourced in the struggles and rebellions of a Hungarian past, but which carries forward to join in a philosophical chorale enriched by place, ideas and love itself. The tone is uncom­promising, sometimes ironic, and never overstated. The poet writes, 'My poem is a passing footprint/in the soft sands of your soul'; then invites the reader to make space for his words. An inheritor of the message of the great Attila József, he presents the struggle between self and society, between class and soul, with an almost conversa­tional energy. And yet, he is conscious of the necessary inventions: of the fairytale of childhood with all its complexities and difficulties, and of the huge, symbolic 'toddler' capable of whacking someone's soul 'into docile domestic stock.' These are visionary poems written by a pilgrim soul whose poetic is enriched by the voices of the classical past. We are honored to witness this gifted sensibility."

Mary O'Donnell, January 10th, 2018

---