#32
" following steps " in FERAL Bernadette Peter’s guest appearance on The Muppet Show in its Second Season really pulls some strings on my heart. This poem is a kind of love leaf to the Fall as I contemplate loss. When I was growing up in New England, seeing trees turn orange had to be one of the most intoxicating spiritual feelings I’ve ever associated with the miracle of life. Perhaps being born in October contributes to this connection I have with autumn. I think one of the best performances I have seen of Bernadette Peters was her rendition of Nat King Cole’s “Blame it on My Youth,” performed on The Carol Burnett Show. That is the kind of mood I was feeling writing this poem. & The form I chose is a pantoum. I read somewhere that a pantoum is like taking two steps forward, and then two steps back, and it reminded me of Bernadette Peters’ opening number, “Take a Little One Step.” The repetitive lines were able to create what feels like an incantation, and Peter
