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    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths
    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths
    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths
    Ebook119 pages1 hour

    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths

    By Susan Paddon

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Winner JM Abraham Poetry Award 


    Chekhov's work and life fuse with a daughter's caring for her dying mother in this powerful debut.


    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths is a book-length series of poems written from the perspective of a daughter who reads Chekhov obsessively while spending a spring and summer caring for her mother, who is dying from pulmonary fibrosis. Through the prism of the relationships in Chekhov's work and life emerges an honest, intimate, and even occasionally humorous portrayal of the energy we put into each other's lives during times of deterioration and suffering. A prismatic, memorable debut.


    ... In the early

    editions of Chekhov's letters, his editors removed
    anything that might stain his image or the image
    of Russia. An ellipsis stands in for vulgar language,
    deleterious remarks, and the references to masturbation
    he used, like little brooks across the page, but as far as I know,
    no one made confetti of his personal life.

    If it were up to me, I'd prefer to talk today. To ask
    my mother questions, finish half-told stories.
    — from "Yellow"

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrick Books
    Release dateFeb 6, 2015
    ISBN9781771314152
    Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths
    Author

    Susan Paddon

    Susan Paddon was born and grew up in St. Thomas, Ontario, attended McGill and Concordia Universities in Montreal, and lived overseas in Paris and London before settling in Margaree, Nova Scotia. Her poems have appeared in Arc, CV2, The Antigonish Review and Geist.

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      Book preview

      Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths - Susan Paddon

      TWO

      TRAGEDIES

      IN 429

      BREATHS

      TWO

      TRAGEDIES

      IN 429

      BREATHS

      SUSAN PADDON

      BRICK BOOKS

      BRICK BOOKS · 431 BOLER ROAD, BOX 20081

      LONDON, ONTARIO N6K 4G6 · WWW.BRICKBOOKS.CA

      Cover image, design and layout by Cheryl Dipede

      The print edition of the book is set in Arno Pro, designed by Robert Slimbach and first issued by Adobe in 2007.

      The author photo was taken by Matthew Parsons.

      copyright © Gillian Wigmore 2014

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Paddon, Susan, 1978-, author

      


      Two tragedies in 429 breaths / Susan Paddon.

      Poems.

      Issued in print and electronic formats.

      ISBN 978-1-771314-15-2

      I. Title.

      PS8631.A275T86 2014      C811'6     C2014-903872-0

      We acknowledge the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program.

      ABOUT THIS BOOK

      Chekhov’s work and life fuse with a daughter’s caring for her dying mother in this powerful debut.

      Two Tragedies in 429 Breaths is a book-length series of poems written from the perspective of a daughter who reads Chekhov obsessively while spending a spring and summer caring for her mother, who is dying from pulmonary fibrosis. Through the prism of the relationships in Chekhov’s work and life an honest, intimate, and even occasionally humorous portrayal of the energy we put into each other’s lives through deterioration and suffering. A prismatic, memorable debut.

      In Loving Memory of

      Barbara Gail Anderson Paddon

      January 31, 1941 – August 13, 2008

      For Pamela Joan and Russell Dean

      CONTENTS

      APRIL

      (red ink on Loblaw’s receipt)

      Place on a Lake

      Chirrup, Chirrup

      This House

      Unsent Letter 1

      Breakfast

      There is Sun in the Garden

      Faith

      Easter Day

      Watching

      MAY

      (black ink on Coca-Cola carton)

      Yellow

      Chekhov’s Sister, 1873

      My Mother’s Sister

      My Sister,

      Maria, 1878

      Two Gardens

      Peaches

      Room 45, Hotel Dresden, Moscow

      Unsent Letter 2

      Notebook

      JUNE

      (black ink on graph paper)

      What She Said

      The Rules

      Two Muses

      Yalta, 19xx (1)

      The Moscow Arrangement

      Yalta, 19xx (2)

      Silent Agreement

      Early Afternoon

      Two Tragedies

      Seasons Change

      Quiet Hours

      My Sister

      Yalta, 19xx (3)

      The Remnants

      My Father

      Chekhov’s Bishop Dreams

      Unsent Letter 3

      Yalta, 19xx (4)

      JULY

      (blue ink on Benadryl card)

      Yalta, 19xx (5)

      Water Baby

      My Sister

      Badenweiler, Germany

      Hotel Sommer, Badenweiler

      Hotel Sommer

      Unsent Letter 4

      The Day They Come

      AUGUST

      (pencil on white notepaper)

      At Noon by the Fifth Floor Window

      Jacksonville

      Code Blue

      My Sister

      The Minister’s Visit

      Dearest Maria,

      SEPTEMBER

      (pencil on brown paper bag)

      A Photograph before Death

      Belaya Dacha, 19xx and 19xx

      My Father’s House

      The Night before She Died

      The Tenant of Regret

      Waiting for her Girl

      That Old Season

      Knipper’s Death

      AFTER

      Archive

      Albuquerque, New Mexico

      Margaree, Nova Scotia

      A Visit to the National Portrait Gallery, London

      Mourning, McDonald’s Parking Lot, Southwestern Ontario

      Closed Doors

      Unsent Letter 5

      The Hospital Notes

      A Passage

      A Dream

      Notes on the Text

      A Note on Chekhov

      Acknowledgements

      About the Author

      Why are the songs so short? a bird once asked.

      Is it because thou art short of breath?

      —A. Daudet, from The Personal Papers of Anton Chekhov

      There are moments worth repeating.

      The tenant of regret is never the one we expect.

      I am going to tell you everything.

      APRIL

      (red ink on Loblaw’s receipt)

      Lately I find myself whispering to Maria

      Chekhova in my head.

      Oh, sweet Masha, I say.

      I have come home to care for my mother.

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