Vladimir Nabokov and My Mother

Yes, Vladimir Nabokov is a great prose stylist, and an interesting, if pedantic, critic. And I skipped both sleep and work to read Lolita. But he averred that the "only" worthy Russian emigration was that of the post-1917 revolutionary aristocrats; he disparaged the post WWII emigration of my family, who suffered persecution by both Stalin and Hitler, and subsequent waves in the later 20th century. He claimed not to miss his privilege or wealth, but only his childhood - one served by 50 servants, whom he said stole from him, whereas the class truth is that the Nabokovs stole land, water, labor, and time from them. And he famously disliked Dostoevsky, in part because his forbear ran the prison where the writer was kept "and generously lent him books." Is it surprising that I now find too many adjectives and a precious vocabulary in his prose? And that ADA is a bit of a mess? Don't blame me, friends - this guy dissed my Mama!

Happy birthday, Vladimir Nabokov! Poem for Ada

désolé de ne pas être avec vous

mood: like a monarch’s genitalia
labeled under glass, I miss yo(u).
when did you stop being my brot-
(her), my lover, my tramp, my sc(
am)p? Best incest, this fraternal/
maternal. Royalty did this, scions.
Now we are husband, huffed, and
Hera-scarum-wife-and-strife. désolé
de ne pas être avec vous today and
as we were, hymn/her, heard.

désolé de ne pas être avec vous (for Vladimir Nabokov’s Ada)*

mood: like a monarch’s genitalia
labeled under glass, I miss you (u).
when did you stop being my brot-
her (her), my lover, my tramp, my
scamp? Best incest, this fraternal/
maternal. Royalty did this, scions.
Now we are husband, huffed up,
and Hera-wife-strife. désolé de
ne pas être avec vous today and
as we once were, her/him, heard.

From #specialcharacters available now from Amazon and Unlikely Books.
*This poem appeared in MadHat 15: Eye on the World.