The Lilacs of Yearning
New and Selected Poems
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Spirit
She is the leaf
That refreshes me
And the root
That binds me
She is flora and anima
The dual realms
Of source and deed.
She reminds and fulfills me.
Meeting a Once Vigorous Friend
He speaks of a slow death.
The leukemia is a slow one,
As he prepares to bet
Belmont at Golden Gate.
A handsome, kind man,
He looks sick as the vibrancy
Of his health has been
Taken from him. His pallor
Invites nothingness. He walks
With a bit of a limp. He is eighty-one.
He asks my age. We are cordial.
He had read my poems
On a small FM station in Marin.
“I have the slow kind.” I like this man,
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About the Book
The Lilacs of Yearning is a collection of 88 poems written over the past ten years – most are quite recent. From floaters in the eye or the brush of a hummingbird's wing, to conversations overheard at the race track, this is a sensory scrapbook tracing anger, humor, desire and memory. Felix's powerful voice and physical presence highlight his many readings in the San Francisco Bay Area and come through palpably on the page.
“It has been a pleasure to publish Morton's poetry. We devoted an entire issue to his You Say You Love Dandelions. His work deserves the widest publication . . . vibrant and stimulating.”
-- Stanley McNail, late editor of the Galley Sail Review.About the Author
Morton Felix was born in New York City in 1935. He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Connecticut. He was a founding editor of The Wormwood Review in the late 1950s, where he had the privilege of publishing and corresponding with e.e. cummings; he also introduced the work of Denise Levertov. Felix's own poetry has been published in reviews, anthologies and several full-length books, including Gathering the Grace of Others (2004, Beatitudes Press).
Morton Felix is also a playwright and was awarded a fellowship to the Squaw Valley Writers' Conference which showcased his work, This Side of Felony. San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater produced his play, A Palette of Leaves, in their Plays in Progress series. Morton Felix lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife, fine artist and social activist Susan Duhan Felix.