Synkroniciti is proud to welcome back Californian poet David Holper with two insightful poems that span the spectrum from private to communal. The first is “Dear Past,” a letter to a discarded past. “I tell you I am sorry, but of course you understand I am lying. I am lying/ about the house, I am lying about my parents. I am lying about you./ I could not wait to abandon you. I had long had in mind to reinvent myself,/ like a wheel or the wind or a mechanical bird, but all I became was this same self…” David’s confessional poem encourages those who have similar experiences to take their time unpacking them. This is a process, part of our individuation, and it often takes decades to reach the point where one is able to converse safely with childhood pain. We shouldn’t be ashamed or surprised when those old wounds still bleed or ache and it is helpful to learn how to care for them. David’s imagery and repetition create beautiful and useful personal mythology that is full of vulnerability and empathy.
Speaking of mythology, “Winged Victory at Samothrace” is an ekphrastic poem exploring the Hellenistic sculpture found on the island of Samothrace, now residing at the top of the Daru staircase in the Louvre Museum. This winged female, headless for centuries, her bold stance indicative of her identity as Nike, the goddess of Victory, has captivated viewers from all over the world. “…This history is the page/ upon which the poet finally discerns// this figure’s face is not some forgotten visage,/ not some empty space, never to be unearthed. No,// in the poet’s dreams, the winged victory approaches…” Peppered with the music of alliteration, sibilants and fricatives, it is a dramatic and exciting poem exploring the collective unconscious, that place where the communal nature of myths becomes personal and intimate, where we find images from humanity’s past in ourselves. What does victory mean for us in the present age?
Read David’s stunning poetry in Synkroniciti’s “Identity” issue, available for purchase here: https://synkroniciti.com/the-magazine/purchase-individual-issues/.
David Holper has published one novel, The Church of the Very Last Chance (Deeper Magic Press) and three collections of poetry, Language Lessons: A Linguistic Hejira (Deeper Magic Press), The Bridge (Sequoia Song Publications) and 64 Questions (March Street Press). All of these books are available on Amazon. His poems and stories have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. He lives in Eureka, California, where he served as the City of Eureka’s inaugural poet laureate from August 2019-August 2021.