THE CORTLAND REVIEW  

 HOME

CHARLES COTÉ - POETRY - SPRING 2008 FEATURE  

FEATURE
Debra Allbery
"The Third Image": Constellations of Correspondence in Emily Dickinson, Joseph Cornell, and Charles Simic, an essay on ekphrastic poetry and the notion of poetry and painting as "the sister arts."

Debra Allbery
Three ekphrastic poems: "Courbet," "No Tutor but the North," and "How to Explain a Dead Hare."

POETRY
Betty Adcock
Charles Coté
Martyn Crucefix This marks an author's first online publication
Burt Kimmelman
Eric Pankey
Michael Salcman
Nicholas Samaras This marks an author's first online publication
Jim Tilley
Gloria Vando
Eleanor Wilner

Interview
A Note on Fictional Truth, a Conversation with Ed Pavlić, by Andrew John McFadyen-Ketchum.

Book Review
"A Change of Maps" by Carolyne Wright—Book Review, by David Rigsbee.

Charles Coté

Charles Coté is a psychotherapist in private practice. His more recent work will appear in Upstreet, Boston Literary Magazine, Lake Affect, and ByLine. He lives with his wife, Barbara, and two sons in Brighton, NY. He occasionally plays 'Ain't Misbehavin' on his son's red guitar, all by himself in the corner. Accompanying Charles's reading, 16-year-old Alex Coté plays his own original composition.


First Tattoo    


Bath time unveils you
marked in reds and greens,
a mushroom sprouting under your navel.
(Stunning really)
Your little boy stalk jeweled.
What happened?
A story of bondage and tape.
The dog chain.
You blame your cousin.
He did it daddy,
this mosaic-hippy-graffiti
on your pink foreskin.
(Alarming really)
Calls are made
to cousin Phil.
He protests,
I'm not the artist!
Back to you in suds.
What happened son?
I did it, you say,
a bowed-head penitent.
(Beautiful really)
Ink runs down the drain,
a fresh canvas
wrapped in terry cloth.

 

top  

© 2008 The Cortland Review