Al Ortolani: “One True Sentence for Michael”
ONE TRUE SENTENCE FOR MICHAEL
I remember reading how Hemingway began
searching for one true sentence. Writing
on his feet, pulling failed
sheets of paper from his typewriter,
tossing the dead ones to the floor like kites
without tails. I think of your health,
Michael, the words bubbling from
your lips like ink, and you, not knowing
enough to tear them from the carriage
to let them float to the floor.
Each jumble of vowels tumbles off
your tongue, each utterance a true
sentence that no one understands.
I try to read your eyes, the tilt of your face
in the light of the blank page. I answer
with sentences that I hope are true.
I watch for the telling response,
the kite tail that gives your dementia direction
before it dusts the floor, before the dead
are swept up or walked on by six toed cats.
Al Ortolani’s poetry has appeared in journals such as Rattle, New York Quarterly, and Prairie Schooner. His most recent collection of poetry is The Taco Boat, published by New York Quarterly Books in 2022. Meadowlark Books has just released his first novel, Bull in the Ring. Ortolani is a two-time recipient of the Kansas Notable Book Award and a winner of the Rattle Chapbook Series.