2021
NORTH CAROLINA L I T E R A R Y RE V I E W
COURTESY OF ARTIST
66
FINALIST, 2020 JAMES APPLEWHITE POETRY PRIZE BY RICHARD BETZ
Keeper
Untitled #21 (oil on canvas, 48x48) by Christopher Lambert
I am the keeper of my father’s piano, and the memory Of long golden hours listening to him practice, A Bach minuet, its internal rhymes echoing As it spooled out in measured steps across the room. I am the keeper of my grandmother’s rocker, the one she Rocked him in when he was a baby, and the memory Of her undoing her braid at night, in my sister’s room Where she stayed summers – that long, silken hair, Bound up tight all day, brushed into a silver waterfall. And I keep the book in which I write, the sheaf of music, The pebble I pocketed in Scotland from the North Sea, The piece of green sea glass I found along Beaufort Inlet, Lined up atop my roll-top desk like chess pieces In a game that I have come to consider a draw, Because I hold myself accountable for what I keep, For what I have lost, for how to live each day, How much suffering to endure, what kinds Of miracles I choose to hold in my hand And carry home at the end of the day, Where I sit in the rocker and listen to Bach.
Pennsylvania native CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT lives in Raleigh, NC. He earned a BFA in Metals, Jewelry, and CadCam from Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University in Philadelphia. He is artist and founder of CRL Pursuit, based in Virginia and a gallery assistant at Gallery C, where you can see more of his work on his artist page.
RICHARD BETZ grew up in New England but has lived in North Carolina for almost fifty years, first in Asheville, then in Highlands. An outdoorsman and an avid runner, he has run twenty marathons including the Boston Marathon. He has been a finalist for the James Applewhite Poetry Prize six years now, twice receiving Honorable Mention.