“Happiness is an elephant” by Nolcha Fox (and My Review of Fox’s Book, ‘Memory is that raccoon’)

Happiness is an elephant

sitting in the best chair,
hogging the remote.
I can only feed him peanuts
and vacuum when he
goes to the refrigerator
for a beer.

Copyright © 2023 Nolcha Fox
All Rights Reserved

“Happiness is an elephant” appears in Nocha Fox’s new poetry collection, Memory is that raccoon, which is available on Amazon.

Clicking on “Amazon” above will take you to the book.

Nolcha’s poems have been published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Alien Buddha Zine, Medusa’s Kitchen, and others. Her poetry books are available on Amazon. Nominee for 2023 Best of The Net. Editor for Kiss My Poetry and for Open Arts Forum. Accidental interviewer/reviewer. Faker of fake news. You may follow Nolcha on these sites:  Twitter: @NolchaF and Facebook.

My Review of Memory is that raccoon

Of her poem, “Happiness is an elephant” Nolcha Fox writes, “This poem came from thinking about how we often use the term, elephant in the room, to refer to issues we all know are there but don’t want to discuss. What if that elephant was a good thing?” 

Part I of Memory is that raccoon, “Love and Loss”, explores the tough topics of death, betrayal, and grief. Although the poems are short, the topics are huge, weighty, and gray, and we often leave these uncomfortable emotions for poets and other writers to address. We line our shelves with poetry books like Nolcha Fox’s as we need to access ways to resolve emotional pain. This is one book to own.

As I read the poems in Part I, I was struck by Fox’s range of emotions upon losing a loved one to cancer. Like us all, she is angry and bereft. She can’t help but recall their life together and his betrayals. Forgiveness and grief tangle in her internal struggle to ride that elephant in the room often with humor, like we see in “Happiness is an elephant”, if we conjure the image of feeding a husband peanuts and only being able to vacuum when he heads to the kitchen for a beer.

In Part II of the book, “Hours and Seasons”, loss is explored in terms of aging, “of snowy days to come” though you’re “so eager/ to float and flash/ your bright red dress” (“A Little Less Enthusiasm, Please”). The poet describes her thoughts as disheveled, just as her hair in “Bed Head”, yet she resolves to thrive in joy. 

With a spade
I dig a hole
and plant
my feet. 

The best revenge
is to blossom.

I feel the speaker is resolving grief in this section because she is closer to acceptance of the loss of youth, 

You whisper

Winter trails your tail
as you blow the sun to set.
I stuff my ears with red,
red leaves, let autumn
stay a few more days – 
don’t make things worse
before it’s time.

The last part of the book, “Totally Unserious”, shows another side of recovery from loss. The titles reveal a comical side of recovery, such as we see in “Happiness is an elephant”. In “Give me that secret sauce”, happiness and hope are likened to a bag of fries. We also see the poet as an aging “Modern-day Eve”.

No snake needs to tell her
to reach for the apples, 
she knows they are on sale this week.

Although light in tone, the poems show compassion in the honest portrayal of vulnerability with phrases such as “unbathed white hair”, and in “Squinting”, the poet writes you “show me your beauty we know / I can’t have”. 

After loss and throughout grief, I can picture the poet viewing herself in a mirror to see what remains in her own life. Ultimately strength overcomes all suffering. In “You’re only crazy”, she writes,

You only do
what everybody
wants to do.
But they’re all wimps,
not you.

Even the title of this collection is comical. How is memory a raccoon? What mask do we wear to cover the eyes to the truth of grief? Are we bandits of time? Or are we as flexible, lithe, clever, and agile as Nolcha Fox is when describing loss, grief and recovery?          (BHL)
                                                                     
Featured Image: by Kaffeebart

Editor: Barbara Harris Leonhard
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Divider Image: by Thai Freestyle on Pixabay

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