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Steven Ablon is a psychiatrist whose main purpose as a poet is (in his words) “to break your heart.” Ablon, a Harvard Medical School faculty member who is well-seasoned in the practice of psychoanalysis, is acquainted with heartbreak. In his poetry he wants his words to be strongly evocative. He wants to reach the reader on a visceral level.

Entering

Steven Ablon.

In the storm that wrenches

up the apple tree, tears power

lines, my father is unlocking

the back door. Below the lock

the silver toothed key trembles,

taps relentless like a woodpecker’s

hammer. He taps, approximates

that dark until the key slides in

as unsteady as old age, unsure

of its goal. Soaking wet shaking

inside his dark house he falls on

his knees weeping, embraces

his dog fingers digging deep

in that thick coat, straightens

himself, lights a candle,

a sheltered state, too soon forgotten.

— Steven Ablon

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