Plate I
“Dark City”
GraphiteTwo hands pressed flat against a wall of fieldstone.
My only memory of you—
in the dark hallway of your Boston home, …
From Crossings
The Sketchbook
Twenty-five drawings by James Cennamo
James Cennamo made these graphite drawings for an illustrated edition of Crossings. They hang here in the book’s four parts, each beside the first lines of the poem it keeps company with: a heart made of piano keys, a guard behind the cross, a thrush on a branch, leaves turning in the wind.
The Four Rooms
Choose a Doorway
The Wall
All Twenty-Five, Hung Together
Choose a drawing to view its plate.
“Dark City”Plate I
“The Crosswalk”Plate II
“Piano”Plate III
“Last Supper”Plate IV
“She Knelt”Plate V
“We’d Scrape the Rocks”Plate VI
“Shoes”Plate VII
“Honeymoon”Plate VIII
“Moving Forward”Plate IX
“Brother Mark”Plate X
“Brother Mike”Plate XI
“The Guard”Plate XII
“Please Call Me”Plate XIII
“The Teapot”Plate XIV
“Carol”Plate XV
“Longing”Plate XVI
“Simply Silly”Plate XVII
“The Nest”Plate XVIII
“For the Animals”Plate XIX
“Session’s End”Plate XX
“Turbulence”Plate XXI
“Mostly I Sit”Plate XXII
“Water”Plate XXIII
“To Be”Plate XXIV
“Leaves”Plate XXVPlate II
“The Crosswalk”
GraphiteHands on a steering wheel; beyond the windshield, a father carries his son on his shoulders.
Today I saw a father and son stepping onto the crosswalk.
I braked and watched them pass. Son on father’s shoulders, …
Plate III
“Piano”
GraphiteA heart built from piano keys.
On that gray day, you chopped the Steinway piano with an axe.
Surrounded by yellow and red leaves on the hard earth, …
Plate IV
“Last Supper”
GraphiteA single worn shoe, its laces loose.
The phone’s ring slices the dark.
His wife, voice flat: “It’s for you.” …
Plate V
“She Knelt”
GraphiteAn old oak beside an open field, birds lifting from its branches.
“My sister Ag was always
smarter than me,” she said. …
Plate VI
“We’d Scrape the Rocks”
GraphiteA framed photograph of a swimmer waving, set on a table beside a donut.
When Mom and I arrived,
you hid a donut behind the frame. …
Plate VII
“Shoes”
GraphiteA bare foot seen from above, toes curled.
Too old to put her shoes on,
she watched me slip her feet …
Plate VIII
“Honeymoon”
GraphiteOne hand reaching toward another that opens to receive it.
She asks me to put Bacitracin on her heel.
“Do you see a small cut?” …
Plate IX
“Moving Forward”
GraphiteA walker standing alone in a pool of hatched light.
Each morning, I injected insulin into my dog,
made sure she had water. …
Plate X
“Brother Mark”
GraphiteTwo figures leaning close together in dark charcoal.
On our way to the dance, we made a fire under the bridge.
Snow fell heavily outside our place near the train tracks. …
Plate XI
“Brother Mike”
GraphiteA man’s face, half in shadow, eyes turned inward.
When we were children,
we knelt after Communion …
Plate XII
“The Guard”
GraphiteA helmeted guard stands behind Jesus as he bears the cross.
In the pew by the stained glass
of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus, …
Plate XIII
“Please Call Me”
GraphiteA rotary wall telephone with its coiled cord hanging loose.
I miss the avocado-green rotary phone
and its coiled cord, …
Plate XIV
“The Teapot”
GraphiteA teapot between stacked cups on a shelf.
“Do you have the yellow teapot?” my mother asked.
“Beth told me I promised it to you long ago.” …
Plate XV
“Carol”
GraphiteA hand holding a long spoon, dark with shadow.
I was twelve.
You were thirty-four, …
Plate XVI
“Longing”
GraphiteA man seen from behind against a glowing screen.
Colleagues ask for my criteria grading English papers.
Family asks me meanings of mystifying words. …
Plate XVII
“Simply Silly”
GraphiteA boy bent over a book while classmates watch from behind.
You sit in the corner, oblivious to the old teacher watching.
Too busy evading the eyes of “cool kids,” who gawk and giggle. …
Plate XVIII
“The Nest”
GraphiteA bedroom window, a maple branch and a nest beyond the panes.
I imagine you looking at the robins’ nest
in the maple outside your bedroom window. …
Plate XIX
“For the Animals”
GraphiteLions, bears, goats, penguins and birds gathered together.
Lions prowl the streets of Johannesburg,
a sleuth of bears rise on hind legs in Yosemite, …
Plate XX
“Session’s End”
GraphiteA speckled wood thrush perched on a branch.
One day there is no news.
The anchors stare at empty teleprompters. …
Plate XXI
“Turbulence”
GraphiteA bearded man in glasses beside his reflection in an airplane window.
The twenty-something blonde offered
to lift my suitcase to the overhead compartment. …
Plate XXII
“Mostly I Sit”
GraphiteA man sitting alone, looking out over open ground.
I’m no longer desired.
I was once called handsome …
Plate XXIII
“Water”
GraphiteTwo cupped hands holding water, drops falling.
The old man on the dock—
weathered face, …
Plate XXIV
“To Be”
GraphiteA dried leaf drawn as a dark oval.
I’d like to be
the Wife of Bath’s scarlet stockings …
Plate XXV
“Leaves”
GraphiteA swirl of wind and falling leaves above the ground.
That fall day, we raked leaves behind the shed.
Smell of earth and wet decay rose in cold air. …
Drawings by James Cennamo
Twenty-five drawings in graphite on paper, from the illustrated edition of Crossings.