He Dances in His Wheelchair
by Charles Becker
15 Poems ~ 29 pages
Price: $17.99
Publisher: Finishing Line Press
ISBN: 979-8-89990-405
To Order: Finishinglinepress.com
Reviewed by Michael Escoubas
As I opened the file to write this review, I was immediately captured by Charles Becker’s dedication:
FOR AUBRY AND HIS DIFFERENTLY ABLED BRILLIANCE
I was struck by the wordplay. “Aubry’s differently abled brilliance.” I knew from the get-go that I was in for a special read. He Dances in His Wheelchair, is a loving description of a relationship. Here, poetry, art, and sacrificial human love merge into a single seamless entity. In an age when being different can resemble a prison wall challenging life’s enjoyment and fulfillment, Charles and Aubry stand forth as overcomers who flourish. I caught a glimpse of this in the tender poem, “We Can Begin”:
[ I ] join him
to the world
and his desire
to be like
everyone else
finding their way
mobile
This core principle of “joining” with another, serves to anchor their relationship. For without this essential element, the ensuing relational depth could not happen. Charles and Aubry understand this.
Design
As I traversed their relational landscape through Becker’s path of twenty-four poems, I sensed an uncommon faith in unshakable love principles. Even the titles suggest a principled deliberation: “This First,” “We Can Begin,” “The Portrait and the Artist,” “The Artist and the Model,” and “How We Run,” all lay a relationship foundation based on truth, love, and mutually shared aspirations. “This First,” sets a poignant coming of age tone:
Days
back then
my early loves
so young
they surrounded
and changed me
even as I thought
I knew what I was doing
they, with Nebraska and hippie
smiles in tow
flawed lifelines across their palms
stunned outlooks
changed the future
by needing me.
Each moved closer
one after another
taught me to square dance
cooked our starchy dinners
played Scrabble
chanted with healers
drove to Mexico for the meds
and tried to lose
the virus haunting
their bodies
everyone
I held their hands
they held my heart
and then they died.
We glimpse Charles’ heart, his sensitivity of spirit as he grows and matures. The poem moves ever so gently toward,
These days
I remember love
when he prods and pinches
shakes or shocks
holds and hushes me
from his wheelchair.
I dream a hibernation
sleeping away the wants
and winter hunger
learning a second spring.
It looks like tulip trees in April
aimless ochre poppy fields
jacaranda purples leaping
from the sky
it feels like two men
in bright light
burning off the early
May fog
paying tribute to cool
breathy mornings.
Design Put Into Practice
This gorgeous language is the language of a gifted poet skilled in metaphor; skilled in alliteration, skilled in simile. His words leap from the page portraying love, respect, and total delight in being with each other.
This thing about words, their power to move life beyond barriers comes out in “Trees Out West.” Here Becker describes life among Angelinos, where …
in California we wear light
layers beneath our clothes
year round
no rain
so take, for example
cancer
and his oscillating
stalked cells
he patiently lives
among fronds
and the healing
smooth of palms
reaching for his wellness
few can imagine how
walking or running
with no more
than just arms
of hands
can only happen
in his most midnight
dreams
Becker marvels at Aubry’s life, free of complaint, free of self-deprecation. This man, indeed, these men have much for which to live. And, in this reviewer’s mind, much to teach the rest of us by way of example.
In love, Charles does more than perform caregiver functions. As his dear friend struggles with relentless disease, I return to Aubry’s differently abled brilliance. This brilliance is aptly described in the lovely tercet, “He Is”:
I see him now for who he really is, his lone wheelchair a throne
his crutches, like stilts, raising him up face to face staring down lies
he never wanted or asked for, wishing only to be like us.
Dear reader, this tender, truthful love story deserves a place in your library.
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