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    Renegade Pinky: Poems and Prose
    Renegade Pinky: Poems and Prose
    Renegade Pinky: Poems and Prose
    Ebook136 pages54 minutes

    Renegade Pinky: Poems and Prose

    By Andy Weatherwax

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    About this ebook

    With Renegade Pinky, author Andy Weatherwax takes us on an honest and intimate journey from the pain and isolation that accompanied his diagnosis with early onset Parkinsons disease to the profound understanding of his illness as a gift. While his poems are informed by the fear and suffering he experiences as the disease progresses they are laced with wit and joy as he explores the new quirks in his life. This collection of poetry presents his unique insights into the disease and how it affects him.

    Through this heartfelt collection, Weatherwax offers a keen understanding of the challenges he faces each day with humor and more than a little irony.

    * * *

    The individual poems in Renegade Pinky are extraordinary. As a collection, the impact is breathtaking. These poems are informed by pain, uncertainty and loss; but even as we are brought to profound intimacy with these things, we as well accompany a poet possessing great good humor, an ironic take on life and exquisite sensitivity to the revelations of nature, music, love and everyday realities. I dare you to read these poems and not be changed.

    Alexandrina Sergio, author of My Daughter is a Drummer in a Rock n Roll Band

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateNov 30, 2012
    ISBN9781475951172
    Renegade Pinky: Poems and Prose
    Author

    Andy Weatherwax

    Andy Weatherwax is a musician, sculptor, and poet who most recently made his living as a digital marketing consultant. He retired shortly after undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery to address the symptoms of early onset Parkinson’s disease. Andy lives in the moment with his wife Josa, son Tyler, and their cats in East Hampton, Connecticut.

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      Book preview

      Renegade Pinky - Andy Weatherwax

      Copyright © 2012 by Andy Weatherwax.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-5116-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-5118-9 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4759-5117-2 (ebk)

      iUniverse rev. date: 11/28/2012

      This book is dedicated to Josefina and Tyler

      black.jpg

      In Memoriam

      Steve Sinbad Sinibaldi

      and

      Peter Saint Onge

      Contents

      FOREWORD

      PART 1: POSSESSION

      LOST AND FOUND

      POSSESSIVE

      RENEGADE PINKY

      THE MASK

      THANKSGIVING SNOW

      WHAT GOOD ARE THESE

      OLD MAN

      MIND, BODY, AND ME

      INDELIBLE REMINDERS

      PART 2: WAITING

      WAITING NOW

      I NEVER REALIZED THE COMFORT A GUTTER COULD OFFER

      AGROUND

      DOES IT SHOW?

      NO HOLIDAY

      LONELINESS SITS

      ANTICIPATING THE SUN

      ANOTHER NIGHT

      IF I DWELL ON IT

      RAINING SEASON

      THIS DAY GO BY

      AND SO IT GOES

      PART 3: DOSE TO DOSE

      DOSE TO DOSE

      RX MATH

      RX MATH

      INSURANCE COVERAGE

      PROCEDURES AND PILLS

      AUTHORIZATION

      MEDICATION CALCULATION

      DID ANYONE NOTICE?

      THE NATURE OF A RELATIONSHIP

      PART 4: SPARK OPTIMISTIC

      THE GIFT

      THREE WEEKS AND ANOTHER DAY

      THERE ARE DAYS

      MOST BEAUTIFULLY

      PERFECTLY BLESSED

      ILLNESS IS MY TEACHER

      RELEASED

      BRAVE, FEARFUL, FOOL

      NEVER TO BE UNDONE

      NO HORSESHOE REQUIRED

      SPARK OPTIMISTIC

      PART 5: INDEED

      SORRY BUNCH

      WELCOME TO THE NFL

      INDEED

      WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HEAD?

      HIS NUMBER

      SUNDAY MORNING IN THE VILLAGE

      PRAGMATICS

      PART 6: THORNS

      THE JOURNEY

      FEAR RIDES THE SUBWAY

      VOWS

      JUDGMENT

      TO BE FREE

      THESE DAYS, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT . . .

      THE OCEAN IS MY TEACHER

      EASING INTO TRAFFIC

      ONLY ONE EXCEPTION

      ALMOST NIRVANA

      MISFORTUNE AND HEARTACHE

      PART 7: BLOSSOMS

      SAILING WITH STRAVINSKY

      ME AND WALTER AND MY ’74 HORNET

      MILES DAVIS KNOCKS BUILDINGS OVER

      RED SAILING CAP

      FOR YOU, I WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING

      CROW

      BLOSSOM

      THIS THOUGHT

      SOMETIMES

      TITLE OF THIS POEM

      AFTERWORD

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      ABOUT THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION

      COVER ART AND CHAPTER ILLUSTRATIONS

      CHAPTER QUOTATIONS

      FOREWORD

      Michael Burgan

      A friend recently said I have a man-crush on Andy Weatherwax. I was taken aback at first, even a little defensive. Then I thought about it: Well, why not? If a guy’s gotta have a man-crush, there are worse targets.

      I tried to give the friend some context to understand how this crush came about. Andy and I have known each other since sixth grade. We spent countless hours together in a high school rock band. When most of our friends were away at college, we stayed, mostly, in our hometown and constantly hung out seeing movies, listening to music, talking. We spent nine weeks side by side backpacking through Europe. We have seen each other’s best and worst moments and remained friends through it all.

      But more telling than the we is the he: Andy has done amazing things. Or rather, he is amazing things—things I envy. A talented musician. A self-taught Internet marketing whiz respected in his field. A skilled woodworker. An accomplished sailor. A rock sculptor and self-published author of a book documenting that work. And, as this collection of poems you’re holding shows, a writer with remarkably intelligent and honest insights into himself and poignant and wry observations of the world.

      What’s not to crush about?

      Renegade Pinky demonstrates, over and over again, what I now most respect about Andy. He is a man courageously confronting Parkinson’s disease. I’ve become more familiar with Parkinson’s as Andy and his loved ones have tried to grapple with its effects. I have seen the physical deterioration, with the spasms and tightening muscles and fatigue. I’ve seen less of the emotional metamorphosis, the mood swings that are a combination of the drugs and the changes in the brain chemistry the illness brings. But I have

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