In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • The Yo-Yo Heir’s Lament
  • Eugene Gloria (bio)

It was a fever that made the yo-yo—a brushfire in the homelands.But a man who calls another a yo-yomight as well say tookus instead of ass.

Now a good yo-yo is hard to find.And a good man who can masterthe craft of string and a pair of joined discs[I’m talking about the old plastic kind

with a Coca-Cola logo on both sides]deserves all the honors he is heir to.So sue me for longing for a placeI never inhabited. Sue me for being

a hobgoblin of a diminished empireas my Uncle Pedro “The Sleeper” Floresloves to say at our family gatherings.Uncle Flo is no match for the young bucks

like the trickmaster chump from Chicowho crushed the Prague competitionwith his overtly complex string moves,or Baby Suzuki from Tokyo

with his menacing stealth and speed:his yo-yo could literally take out an eye. [End Page 121] I’d give my eyetooth for just one of his tricks.It’s a young man’s game like anything else.

So I say tookus to my rocking-the-cradle,tookus for my walking-the-dog,tookus for Pedro “the Sleeper” Floresand his yo-yo that set the world on fire. [End Page 122]

Eugene Gloria

Eugene Gloria is the author of My Favorite Warlord (Penguin, 2012), Hoodlum Birds (Penguin, 2006), and Drivers at the Short-Time Motel (Penguin, 2000). His honors include an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, Pushcart Prize, and a National Poetry Series selection. His recent work appears in The Best American Poetry 2014, TriQuarterly, Memorious, Shenandoah, and Ploughshares. He teaches English and creative writing at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.

...

pdf

Share