Chaldea/I Dig Girls by Nick Tosches is "a purse-book of breath from dead places, of gutters that run through paradise and gods who dwell in madness, of ancient wisdoms and ancient rhythms come back to town in kid-mohair britches. Chaldea is Newark. Chaldea is the place of all dark magic, deep within the lake of the heart; the place of resurrection, annihilation, and the breezes of all that is forbidden..." It comprises 25 poems and a story.
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About the Author
Nick Tosches is a poet, novelist, and nonfiction cartographer of underworlds. His books include Hellfire, Power on Earth, Cut Numbers, Dino, and Trinities. He lives in New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Two poems and the first paragraph of the story from Chaldea/I Dig Girls by Nick Tosches:
WHAT THE COPTIC GUY SAID
Louie remembered what the Coptic guy said:
If you bring forth what is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
___________________________________________
IMPERIUM
In what beast's eye or auguring sky
does its--mortality's--direst wrath, reflected, lie?
(Augustus, near dark, asked the seer-boy)
In the eye, clove-brown, of Caesar, for,
having grasped for wife the world, for chattel
all its plenty, he forfeits more to death's
manumission than any other man, or beast,
or fish, or fowl, or crawling thing.
And in the sky, golden-rose, that precedes
dusk in the first harvest-days, for, showing
us paradise, it leads us only to to the season
of the dead, and leaves us aching for what,
for us, beneath the gods, can never be.
(the boy said)
No--
(Augustus said)
--but in the eye of the marsh-bird, the crane,
and in the sky of any hour of the nones
of April, which was never anything but bad.
These are facts, not conceits. Look at them and know
that truth is farther than wonder, but before us
always.
___________________________________________
from I DIG GIRLS
WHAT THE COPTIC GUY SAID
Louie remembered what the Coptic guy said:
If you bring forth what is within you,
what you bring forth will save you.
If you do not bring forth what is within you,
what you do not bring forth will destroy you.
___________________________________________
IMPERIUM
In what beast's eye or auguring sky
does its--mortality's--direst wrath, reflected, lie?
(Augustus, near dark, asked the seer-boy)
In the eye, clove-brown, of Caesar, for,
having grasped for wife the world, for chattel
all its plenty, he forfeits more to death's
manumission than any other man, or beast,
or fish, or fowl, or crawling thing.
And in the sky, golden-rose, that precedes
dusk in the first harvest-days, for, showing
us paradise, it leads us only to to the season
of the dead, and leaves us aching for what,
for us, beneath the gods, can never be.
(the boy said)
No--
(Augustus said)
--but in the eye of the marsh-bird, the crane,
and in the sky of any hour of the nones
of April, which was never anything but bad.
These are facts, not conceits. Look at them and know
that truth is farther than wonder, but before us
always.
___________________________________________
from I DIG GIRLS
Jabbo saw himself as he had been, forty years before and more, a child, thumb and forefinger poised apart, breath bated, eyes wide with wonder and expectation, watching a butterfly dance and whirl through the air round a dandelion that sprouted between pavement and curb; watching, watching, waiting for the little white wings to still. He saw the powdery white on his fingertips, like magical traces left behind, when the wings, after his enchantment, were set fluttering free. And he saw himself as he was now, a man crossing a street with madness in his mind and a gun beneath his belt, transfixed by shining black in the black of night.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and Savage Poetry,
By
This review is from: Chaldea and I Dig Girls (Paperback)
This tiny little book has as much beauty and power as Tosches's best long works. Intense, dark, and funny. His prose is rich and elegant and mean, and his poetry It may not be what you should start your Nick Tosches experience with, but you'll want it eventually. Buy one.
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