Sublimation Point
Gotham Poetry teacher Jason Schneiderman recently published his poetry collection, Sublimation Point. Noted poet and author Wayne Koestenbaum wrote this of the book: “Sweet, funny, sad, true: Sublimation Point, like a perfect pop song, makes the listener glad to be alive. Jason Schneiderman doesn’t strive for complication: he wins us over with rueful plain-speaking.”
See for yourself. Here is one of Jason's poems from
Sublimation Point:
PHYSICS II: LEIBNIZ
Leibniz died, martyred by the holy church of Newton
the way Galileo died, martyred by the holy church of Christ.
Mathematicians still write the way Leibniz did,
eschewing Newton’s
fussy physics dots and random letters. We are all afraid
of this, that when at last our genius is revealed,
it will be duplicated,
that upon discovering the one small thing that no one else can give
to the world, that it will be given twice and we will not get credit.
Three people invented the telephone within an hour of each other
and Bell got to the patent office first. My name will not survive
my death,
so I say it now: Schneiderman, Schneiderman, Schneiderman.
You will hear my name on others, but it will be
my father’s name,
not mine. Perhaps only the forgotten know peace
after death. Perhaps Leibniz is angry that I’ve called.
To read more of Jason's poetry, find
Sublimation Point online at bn.com or in your favorite bookstore. Copyright © Jason Schneiderman. Reprinted by permission of
Four Way Books. All rights reserved.
