Poetry / Poems

Book SynopsisPoems to celebrate spring. A sublime bedside companion to enjoy as the frost melts and days grow longer, with poems to immerse yourself in the season. From William Blake and Emily Dickinson to Robert Browning and Eleanor Farjeon, some of the finest poets that ever put pen to paper describe this wondrous season of new beginnings. With one entry for every day through spring, from 1st March until 31st May, this collection of 91 poems will invigorate you in the warmer and wetter months of Spring, from Robert Herrick’s first drops of March dew and the breaking blossoms of Laurence Binyon’s April day to William Blake’s meadow-sweet May and Emily Dickinson’s promise of light to come. This beautiful and collectable anthology of poems derives from the popular A Poem for Every Night of the Year and features poems inspired by springtime by Laurence Binyon, Margaret Cavendish, Amy Lowell, William Wordsworth and many more.

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Book SynopsisA love song between an angel and an accountant in the suburbs of London from Man Booker shortlisted Levy She is a shimmering, melancholy angel, flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. He an accountant, dreaming of a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love. She attempts to fly him away from his habits and fears, while he holds on tight to all he knows. Man Booker Prize shortlisted Deborah Levy whips up a storm of romance and slapstick, of heavenly and earthly delights, in this dystopian philosophical poem about individual freedom and the search for the good life.Trade Review‘I loved this effervescent dialogue between she and He, angel and accountant, wild desire and the (ever more desirable) quotidian. It’s Deborah Levy at her wise, witty and playful best. Read it and be seduced away from (or back into) the suburbs of hell.’ Lisa Appignanesi‘Levy just gets it entirely - the whole business of drab and yet compelling routine, and the fear of the inestimable, the longing nonetheless, the surrender each day to the ordinary, dispersing the dream, only to dream it again. An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell encapsulates all of this, redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.’ Joanna Kavenna‘An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.’ Joanna KavennaPraise for Deborah Levy ‘Accomplished and uncanny. The strange, unpredictable journey is worth it.’ Alex Clark, Guardian‘A major contemporary writer who never pulls her punches.’ Julia Pascal, Independent‘Levy’s strength is her originality of thought and expression.’ Jeanette Winterson‘She writes like a hyper-kinetic angel.’ Sunday Times ‘Angry and uninhibited, Levy's prose throbs its way into the imagination.’ Observer

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Book SynopsisA love letter to his fans, My Dear Wildflower finds New York Times bestseller r.h. Sin at his best, guiding readers through the journey out of despair and back to self-worth with the honest relatability that fans worldwide have come to know him for.

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Book SynopsisRaegan Fordemwalt—poet and author of the runaway hit Lover Girl—is back with the highly anticipated follow-up collection of poetry and art, Prince of Hearts.Following the success of Lover Girl, Raegan Fordemwalt returns with Prince of Hearts. An indirect sequel to her bestselling debut, this all-new collection of art and poetry takes readers along the narrator’s journey through abandonment and dismantled trust following the loss of significant relationships, both platonic and romantic.   A far-too-relatable retelling of the courage required to survive young love, first heartbreaks, and your early-20s, Prince of Hearts is a look through both the rearview and the windshield along the journey to self-love.

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Book Synopsis*Donna Ashworth's new book Wild Hope is out September 2023*FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF I WISH I KNEWA book for the passionate and warm-hearted among us, Love explores every type of affection and helps us to nurture our most precious connections.This collection invites us to keep space open for the love in our lives and to remember that it can be found in the most unexpected places.From familial ties to friendship and romantic love, these poems show tenderness as a powerful force - even towards yourself.Real readers are falling for Love- 'A poignant, beautiful, and soothing collection of poems' ***** NetGalley- 'I didn't realise how much I needed the words that was on the pages!' ***** NetGalley- 'Fabulous author whose poems come from her heart and whose words seem to speak the emotions in a way many of us can't.' *****Amazon- 'She is a truly talented writer who is capable of writing words that really speak to the soul.' *****Amazon

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Book SynopsisBeowulf is the longest and finest literary work to have come down to us from Anglo-Saxon times, and one of the world''s greatest epic poems. Set in the half-legendary, half historical Scandinavian past, it tells the story of the hero Beowulf, who comes to the aid of the Danish king Hrothgar by killing first the terrifying, demonic monster Grendel, and then Grendel''s infuriated and vengeful mother. A lifetime later, Beowulf''s own kingdom, Geatland, is threatened by a fiery dragon; Beowulf heroically takes on this challenge, but himself dies killing the dragon. The poem celebrates the virtues of the heroic life, but Hrothgar and Beowulf are beacons of wisdom and courage in a dark world of feuds, violence and uncertainty, and Beowulf''s selfless heroism is set against a background of ruthless power struggles, fratricide and tyranny. This acclaimed translation is complemented by a critical introduction and substantial editorial apparatus. `The poem has at last found its translator . . .supremely well done'' Charles Causley ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of ContentsINCLUDES: INTRODUCTION, TEXTUAL NOTE, BIBLIOGRAPHY, TIME CHART, GENEALOGICAL TABLES, MAP, EXPLANATORY NOTES, INDEX OF NAMES

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Book SynopsisNew Selected Poems is a book of singular abundance and formal verve, featuring poems of rare vision and dramatic power by a consummate and resilient artist. Demonstrating the wide range of Derek Mahon''s verse, from the early lyricism to a more expansive middle period (''New York Time'', ''Decadence'') and the flowering of his late style, it includes recent, uncollected work and culminates in the generous, far-reaching reverie ''Dreams of a Summer Night''.

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Book SynopsisThe captivating original English translation of Rilke's landmark poetry cycle, by Vita and Edward Sackville-West

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Book SynopsisFirst ever standalone edition of one of J.R.R. Tolkien's most important poetic dramas, that explores timely themes such as the nature of heroism and chivalry during war, and which features unpublished and never-before-seen texts and drafts.In 991 AD, vikings attacked an Anglo-Saxon defence-force led by their duke, Beorhtnoth, resulting in brutal fighting along the banks of the river Blackwater, near Maldon in Essex. The attack is widely considered one of the defining conflicts of tenth-century England, due to it being immortalised in the poem, The Battle of Maldon.Written shortly after the battle, the poem now survives only as a 325-line fragment, but its value to today is incalculable, not just as an heroic tale but in vividly expressing the lost language of our ancestors and celebrating ideals of loyalty and friendship.J.R.R. Tolkien considered The Battle of Maldon the last surviving fragment of ancient English heroic minstrelsy'. It would inspire him to compose, during the 1930s, hiTrade Review ‘If you were to choose only one [book] to gain some insight into the prolific smorgasbord of his multifaceted writing, this is peak Tolkien’ Wall Street Journal ‘Offers valuable insight into Tolkien’s creative process and enriching our understanding of his scholarly contributions’ Amon Hen, Bulletin of the Tolkien Society ‘Tolkien was a storyteller of genius’ Literary Review

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Book Synopsis*Donna Ashworth's new book Wild Hope is out September 2023*FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF I WISH I KNEWFor those looking for inspiration, peace and acceptance on the bumpy road that is life, Donna Ashworth's poems give insight into the enigmas of ageing, body image, family and the rapidly changing world around us.For every twist, turn and roadblock the journey has to offer, this collection provides relief to busy minds and dares us to live with a reckless abundance of joy.Readers are embracing Life- 'One of today's best poets.' ***** NetGalley- 'Donna's writing conveys so beautifully what it is to be human' ***** Amazon- 'Each time I read a poem and decide that is my favourite I turn the page and find another beautifully written, eloquent piece that resonates, comforts, and that makes you stop and reflect.' ***** Amazon- 'They are wonderful books to dip in and out of when you need inspiration, some advice, a hug, a friendly word.' ***** Amazon

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Book SynopsisHarry Josephine Giles is a writer and performer from Orkney. She holds an MA in Theatre Directing from East 15 Acting School and a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Stirling. Her verse novel Deep Wheel Orcadia was published by Picador in October 2021 and received the 2022 Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Book of the Year. Her poetry collections Tonguit and The Games were shortlisted for the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award, the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and the Saltire Poetry Book of the Year. Them! is her fourth poetry collection.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsAn Introduction by Tom Butler-Bowdon vii About Tom Butler-Bowdon xvii The Prophet 1

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 2020, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amidst ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a harbour for a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, memory, and the Black body.In this book, she deepens the work of that project, bringing together new prayers, letters, poetry, meditation questions, breath practice, and the writings of Black literary ancestors to offer 43 liturgies that can be practised individually or as a community. With a poet''s touch and a sensitivity that has made her one of the most important spiritual voices at work today, Riley invites readers to reflect on their own experiences of wonder, rest, rage, and repair, while also including liturgies for holidays like Lent, Advent and Mother''s Day.For those healing from spiritual spaces that were more violent than loving; for those who have escaped the trauma of white Christian nationalism, religious homophobia, and transphobia; for anyone asking what it means to be human in a world of both beauty and terror; Black Liturgies is a work of healing and liberation, and a vision for what might be.

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Book SynopsisGod can stay asleep / these women in my life are magic enuffAn electrifying collection of poems that tells a universal tale of survival and revolution through the lens of Black femininity. Tara Stringfellow embraces complexity, grappling with the sometimes painful, sometimes wonderful way two conflicting things can be true at the same time. How it''s possible to have a strong voice and also feel silenced. To be loyal to things and people that betray us. To burn as hot with rage as we do with love.Each poem asks how we can heal and sustain relationships with people, systems, and ourselves. How to reach for the kind of real love that allows for the truth of anger, disappointment, and grief. Unapologetic, unafraid, and glorious in its nuance, this collection argues that when it comes to living in our full humanity, we have - and we are - magic enough.

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Book SynopsisRaw and Powerful Poetry for MothersAuthor and maternal inspiration, Randi Latzman, uses her own journey through motherhood to guide fellow mamas through the rollercoaster ride of raising a child. This is poetry for mothers, by a mother who has seen it all. Not just surviving motherhood, but thriving through it. Whether you’re a new mom or a total pro, you’ll learn how to soak up every moment in motherhood, while still leaving room for your own growth. This is poetry about healing, evolving, learning, and living as a mother in these current times.Read beautiful poems about motherhood, and learn how to navigate the hardest job in the world. This is poetry for first time moms figuring everything out, for long-time moms rediscovering themselves, and for every mother in between. It’s motherhood poetry in its realest form. One of the rare books about motherhood that doesn''t shy away from the good, the bad, and the

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Book SynopsisBeverley Bie Brahic's Apple Thieves delights in the pleasures of nature, art and the body.

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Book SynopsisAdvent is a season of waiting and anticipation in which the waiting itself is strangely rich and fulfilling. Poetry can help us fathom the depths of Advent's many paradoxes: dark and light, emptiness and fulfilment, ancient and ever new. For every day from Advent Sunday to Christmas Day and beyond, the bestselling poet Malcolm Guite chooses a favourite poem from across the Christian spiritual and English literary traditions and offers incisive seasonal reflections on it. In the spirit of the season, he blends the familiar and the new, ranging from from spiritual classics such as Edmund Spenser, John Donne, George Herbert and Christina Rossetti, to contemporary voices Luci Shaw and Scott Cairns. His own acclaimed sequence of sonnets for the great Advent antiphons are also included.

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Book SynopsisBeing Alive is the sequel to Neil Astley’s Staying Alive, which became Britain’s most popular poetry book because it gave readers hundreds of thoughtful and passionate poems about living in the modern world. Now he has assembled this equally lively companion anthology for all those readers who’ve wanted more poems that touch the heart, stir the mind and fire the spirit. Being Alive is about being human: about love and loss, fear and longing, hurt and wonder. Staying Alive didn’t just reach a broader readership, it introduced thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry, giving them an international gathering of poems of great personal force, poems with emotional power, intellectual edge and playful wit. It also brought many readers back to poetry, people who hadn’t read poetry for years because it hadn’t held their interest. Being Alive gives readers an even wider selection of vivid, brilliantly diverse contemporary poetry from around the world. Being Alive was followed by a companion anthology, Being Human (2011), and by a fourth volume, Staying Human: new poems for Staying Alive (2020). These anthologies have been welcomed not only by poets but by a wide range of well-known people respected for their work in fields other than poetry – all avid readers of poetry. They want to recommend these books above all other anthologies of contemporary poetry.Trade ReviewI love Staying Alive and keep going back to it. Being Alive is just as vivid, strongly present and equally beautifully organised. But this new book feels even more alive - I think it has a heartbeat, or maybe that's my own thrum humming along with the music of these poets. Sitting alone in a room with these poems is to be assured that you are not alone, you are not crazy (or if you are, you're not the only one who thinks this way!) I run home to this book to argue with it, find solace in it, to locate myself in the world again. -- Meryl StreepThese poems remind us of what we have felt yet never fully articulated, what we have dreamt yet never believed entirely possible. Perhaps most importantly, the poems in here tell us there is nothing more powerful than language when its agenda is to reveal rather than to conceal or distort. -- Kamila ShamsieHopefully, books like this will put poetry back into the mainstream. -- Van MorrisonTable of ContentsNeil Astley 17 Introduction 1 Exploring the World Elma Mitchell 22 This Poem… Gerald Locklin 22 The Iceberg Theory Billy Collins 23 Introduction to Poetry Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin 24 The Horses of Meaning Paul Muldoon 24 Symposium Simon Armitage 25 Not the Furniture Game Vincent Woods 26 A Song of Lies Philip Gross 27 Mappa Mundi Donald Hall 28 The Poem Galway Kinnell 29 Saint Francis and the Sow Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill 29 Celebration Elizabeth Bishop 31 At the Fishhouses Stewart Conn 33 Tremors Theodore Roethke 34 Night Journey Randall Jarrell 35 The Orient Express C.P. Cavafy 36 Ithaka Sheenagh Pugh 37 What If This Road Philip Larkin 38 Poetry of Departures Derek Mahon 39 The Last of the Fire Kings Matthew Sweeney 40 The Appointment Derek Mahon 41 The Mayo Tao Michael Longley 42 Echoes Hayden Carruth 43 No Matter What, After All and That Beautiful Word So Mark Doty 44 Migratory Don McKay 45 Close-up on a Sharp-shinned Hawk Lorna Crozier 46 Inventing the Hawk George Mackay Brown 48 The Hawk Robert Adamson 46 The southern skua 2 Taste and See Philip Levine 50 The Simple Truth David Budbill 51 The First Green of Spring Denise Levertov 51 O Taste and See Li-Young Lee 52 From Blossoms Peter Davison 52 Peaches Galway Kinnell 53 Blackberry Eating Sylvia Plath 53 Blackberrying Tony Harrison 54 A Kumquat for John Keats Vicki Feaver 57 Crab Apple Jelly Jacob Polley 59 A Jar of Honey Pablo Neruda 59 Sweetness, Always Kim Addonizio 61 For Desire Helen Dunmore 62 Wild strawberries Pablo Neruda 63 Horses Ted Hughes 64 The Horses Henry Shukman 65 Horses at Christmas Katrina Porteous 66 Calf Mary Oliver 66 How Everything Adores Being Alive Alden Nowlan 68 In Praise of the Great Bull Walrus Henri Cole 69 Cleaning the Elephant Alden Nowlan 69 The Bull Moose Elizabeth Bishop 70 The Fish Wendell Berry 72 The Peace of Wild Things Czeslaw Milosz 73 Gift Jane Hirshfield 73 Not-Yet Andrew Greig 74 A Pre-Breakfast Rant Chase Twichell 75 Hunger for Something Ruth L. Schwartz 75 Talking to God on the Seventh Day Jack Gilbert 76 Hunger Gwendolyn MacEwen 77 Dark Pines Under Water Erin Mouré 78 Toxicity P.K. Page 79 Planet Earth Wislawa Szymborska 80 The Ball Anne Michaels 81 The Passionate World Sarah Lindsay 82 World Truffle Archibald MacLeish 83 You, Andrew Marvell Mary Oliver 85 Look and See Agha Shahid Ali 85 Stationery Michael Donaghy 86 The Present Imtiaz Dharker 86 Blessing Robert Creeley 87 The Rain Naomi Shihab Nye 88 So Much Happiness Jane Kenyon 89 Happiness Robert Bly 90 The Third Body Czeslaw Milosz 90 On Pilgrimage Mary Oliver 91 The Summer Day Carl Dennis 92 The God Who Loves You James K. Baxter 93 The Ikons Czeslaw Milosz 94 Veni Creator Carl Sandburg 94 Prayers of Steel Antonio Machado 95 ‘Last night while I was sleeping’ Elizabeth Smither 96 Mission Impossible R.S. Thomas 96 from Counterpoint Dennis O’Driscoll 97 Missing God Charles Causley 100 The Forest of Tangle Fiona Farrell 101 Credo Aidan Rooney-Céspedes 102 Retro Creation Kaylin Haught 102 God Says Yes to Me Kerry Hardie 103 Sheep Fair Day Ruth L. Schwartz 105 Oh God, Fuck Me 3 Family Jacob Polley 108 Smoke Marge Piercy 109 The watch Lucille Clifton 110 the lost baby poem Jeni Couzyn 110 Heartsong Helen Dunmore 111 Scan at 8 weeks Kona Macphee 112 Ultrasound at 13 weeks Paul Muldoon 112 The Sonogram Pauline Stainer 113 The Ringing Chamber Victoria Redel 113 Ninth Month Derek Mahon 114 An Unborn Child Louis MacNeice 115 Prayer Before Birth Pablo Neruda 116 Births Kona Macphee 118 The night before the last day of January Kate Clanchy 118 Driving to the Hospital W.N. Herbert 119 The Harvest in March Matthew Hollis 120 And let us say Lauris Edmond 120 Tempo Fleur Adcock 122 Counting Kate Clanchy 123 Love Sylvia Plath 124 Morning Song Richard Murphy 124 Natural Son Thom Gunn 125 Baby Song Helen Farish 126 Newly Born Twins Sharon Olds 126 My First Weeks Kathleen Ossip 127 Nursling Anne Stevenson 128 The Victory Kate Clanchy 128 Stance Jane Hirshfield 129 Red Onion, Cherries, Boiling Potatoes, Milk – Anne Winters 130 from Elizabeth Near and Far Fleur Adcock 130 For Andrew Gabriela Mistral 131 Let Him Not Grow Up Rita Dove 132 Daystar Anna Jackson 133 The peacock of motherhood Connie Bensley 134 Single Parent Michael Ondaatje 134 Bearhug Nick Flynn 135 Cartoon Physics, part 1 Michael Laskey 136 A Tray of Eggs Thomas Lynch 137 Skating with Heather Grace Tony Hoagland 138 Benevolence Carlos Drummond de Andrade 139 Infancy Anne Stevenson 139 The Mother Seamus Heaney 140 Sunlight Philip Levine 141 Starlight Seamus Heaney 142 from Clearances Yehuda Amichai 142 My Father Sinéad Morrissey 143 Genetics Seamus Heaney 143 Digging Brendan Kennelly 144 I See You Dancing, Father Theodore Roethke 145 Papa’s Waltz Susan Wicks 146 My Father Is Shrinking Li-Young Lee 147 Little Father Hart Crane 147 My Grandmother’s Love Letters Andrew Waterhouse 148 Climbing My Grandfather Thomas Lynch 149 Custody Julia Copus 150 Second Home Marie Howe 151 How Many Times Kona Macphee 151 No fairy story Selima Hill 152 House Ai 152 The Cockfighter’s Daughter Sylvia Plath 156 Daddy Sharon Olds 158 Waste Sonata Tracey Herd 159 The Survivors Pascale Petit 160 The Strait-Jackets Pascale Petit 161 Self-Portrait as a Warao Violin Susan Glickman 162 But till that morning, ain’t no one gonna harm you John Steffler 162 Hollis Street Square, Halifax Gjertrud Schnackenberg 163 Returning North Maurice Riordan 165 Time Out Helen Dunmore 166 The blessing C. Day Lewis 167 Walking Away Kathleen Jamie 168 Mother-May-I Simon Armitage 169 Kid Cynthia Fuller 170 Guests Simon Armitage 170 from Book of Matches Rutger Kopland 171 Johnson Brothers Ltd Paul Farley 172 Laws of Gravity Gael Turnbull 174 Transmutation Vona Groarke 174 Family Sharon Thesen 175 Animals Miller Williams 175 Animals Sharon Olds 176 Forty-one, Alone, No Gerbil Billy Collins 176 Putting Down the Cat Elizabeth Smither 177 On the euthanasia of a pet dog Gerry McGrath 177 ‘Noticing a man unable…’ Howard Nemerov 178 Walking the Dog 4 Love Life Wislawa Szymborska 180 Love at First Sight Rosemary Tonks 181 Story of a Hotel Room Lavinia Greenlaw 182 Tryst Derek Walcott 182 Love After Love Julia Copus 183 Love, Like Water Yehuda Amichai 184 To My Love, Combing Her Hair Cathy Song 184 The White Porch Zbigniew Herbert 186 Rosy Ear Margaret Atwood 187 Variation on the Word Sleep Greta Stoddart 188 The Blindfold Zbigniew Herbert 189 Silk of a Soul Derek Walcott 190 The Fist Deryn Rees-Jones 191 What It’s Like To Be Alive Hayden Carruth 191 Alive Robert Hass 192 Misery and Splendor Sharon Olds 193 This Hour Galway Kinnell 194 After Making Love We Hear Footsteps Czeslaw Milosz 194 Love Jack Gilbert 195 The Great Fires Jane Hirshfield 196 Knowing Nothing Carol Ann Duffy 196 Warming Her Pearls Helen Farish 197 Look at These Liz Lochhead 198 I Wouldn’t Thank You for a Valentine Carol Ann Duffy 199 Valentine Pablo Neruda 200 Ode to the Onion Linda France 202 If Love Was Jazz Billy Collins 203 Litany Pablo Neruda 204 from 100 Love Sonnets Patrick Kavanagh 205 On Raglan Road Brendan Kennelly 205 Raglan Lane Stanley Kunitz 206 Touch Me William Matthews 207 Misgivings Kerry Hardie 208 The Hunter Home from the Hill Michael Longley 208 The Waterfall U.A. Fanthorpe 209 Atlas Philip Larkin 209 An Arundel Tomb 5 Men and Women Frederick Seidel 212 Men and Women C.K. Williams 215 The Dress Denise Levertov 218 The Mutes Fred Voss 219 The Inspection Marge Piercy 220 In the men’s room(s) Gwen Harwood 221 A Simple Story Tony Hoagland 222 The Change Carol Ann Duffy 224 Mrs Midas Anne Rouse 226 Spunk Talking Tom Leonard 226 Four of the Belt Chris Greenhalgh 227 A Man in the Valley of the Women Roddy Lumsden 228 Prayer To Be with Mercurial Women Wendy Cope 229 Bloody Men Clare Pollard 230 And Another Bloody Thing… Charles Bukowksi 230 sexpot Radmila Lazic 232 I’ll Be a Wicked Old Woman Deborah Randall 233 Ballygrand Widow Kim Addonizio 234 ‘What Do Women Want?’ Liz Lochhead 234 Rapunzstiltskin John Agard 236 English Girl Eats Her First Mango David Constantine 237 Pleasure Minnie Bruce Pratt 238 Done Selima Hill 238 Please Can I Have a Man Billy Collins 239 Man in Space Alice Oswald 240 Wedding Michael Laskey 240 The Tightrope Wedding Philip Larkin 241 The Whitsun Weddings Michael Longley 243 The Pattern Dorothy Molloy 244 Les Grands Seigneurs Selima Hill 244 Being a Wife Denise Levertov 245 The Ache of Marriage Sylvia Plath 245 The Applicant Dorothy Nimmo 247 Good Gifts Jacques Prévert 248 Breakfast Dorothy Nimmo 249 Ill-Wishing Him Liz Lochhead 249 My Way Cheryl Follon 251 Love Rats Duncan Forbes 252 Recension Day Michael Blackburn 253 Before That Catherine Smith 253 The New Bride Helen Ivory 254 Sleeping with the Fishes James Fenton 255 Let’s Go Over It All Again Eleanor Brown 256 Sonnet 6 Being and Loss Wallace Stevens 258 The Emperor of Ice-Cream Jackie Kay 258 Somebody Else James Merrill 259 Mirror Michael Davitt 260 The Mirror Chase Twichell 261 Cat and Mirror Gael Turnbull 262 Transmutation Henri Cole 262 Original Face Aleksandar Ristovic 263 The essential Marin Sorescu 263 Pond W.B. Yeats 264 The Circus Animals’ Desertion Jack Gilbert 265 Measuring the Tyger César Vallejo 266 The black heralds John Berryman 266 from Dream Songs (155) Paul Durcan 267 The Death by Heroin of Sid Vicious Jane Kenyon 268 Otherwise James Fenton 268 The Mistake C.P. Cavafy 269 Che Fece… Il Gran Rifiuto Andrew Waterhouse 270 Speaking About My Cracked Sump Tracey Herd 270 Ophelia’s Confession Selima Hill 271 Hairbrush Polly Clark 272 Elvis the Performing Octopus Sarah Wardle 273 Flight Kerry Hardie 274 Autumn Cancer Julia Darling 274 Chemotherapy Gael Turnbull 275 Transmutation Kerry Hardie 275 She Replies to Carmel’s Letter Kenneth Mackenzie 276 Caesura David Scott 277 Heart Esther Jansma 278 Descent Carole Satyamurti 279 Broken Moon Wendy Cope 280 Names Bob Hicok 280 Alzheimer’s Alison Pryde 281 Have We Had Easter Yet? Tony Hoagland 282 Lucky Mark Doty 283 Brilliance Pearse Hutchinson 285 Flames Nick Drake 286 The Very Rich Hours Mark Doty 287 The Embrace Kerry Hardie 288 What’s Left Lucille Clifton 289 poem to my uterus Lucille Clifton 290 to my last period Howard Moss 290 The Pruned Tree James K. Baxter 291 Tomcat David Constantine 292 The Hoist R.S. Thomas 292 Lore Grace Paley 293 Here Anne Stevenson 294 Who’s Joking with the Photographer? Fleur Adcock 295 Weathering Lauris Edmond 296 3 a.m. C.K. Williams 297 The Shade Frederick Seidel 298 Dune Road, Southampton Matthew Sweeney 300 The Box Gerard Woodward 300 The Murderer Is a Cow Jacob Polley 302 Moving House Imtiaz Dharker 303 This room Naomi Shihab Nye 304 Kindness 7 Daily Round William Bronk 306 The Way Glyn Maxwell 307 The Nerve Simon Armitage 308 Killing Time #2 Louis MacNeice 310 Bagpipe Music Dennis O’Driscoll 311 Life Roo Borson 312 City Lights August Kleinzahler 313 Snow in North Jersey William Matthews 314 Grief Helen Dunmore 315 To Virgil Maura Dooley 316 Mind the Gap Jo Shapcott 316 My Life Asleep David Constantine 317 New Year Behind the Asylum Alden Nowlan 318 Great Things Have Happened Thom Gunn 319 Night Taxi Ken Smith 321 Message on the machine Brendan Kennelly 321 Clearing a Space Ciaran Carson 323 Clearance Ciaran Carson 323 Turn Again Edward Hirsch 324 In Spite of Everything, the Stars Jack Gilbert 325 Searching for Pittsburgh Lavinia Greenlaw 325 Zombies Dennis O’Driscoll 326 Home Philip Levine 327 What Work Is Al Purdy 328 Alive or Not Jacques Prévert 329 At the Florist’s Anne Rouse 330 Her Retirement Philip Larkin 331 Toads Robert Phillips 332 The Panic Bird Julie O’Callaghan 333 Managing the Common Herd Deborah Garrison 334 Fight Song Peter Didsbury 335 A Malediction Rita Ann Higgins 336 Some People Rodney Jones 337 TV Vicki Feaver 338 The Way We Live Philip Levine 339 Every Blessed Day Tom French 341 Pity the Bastards Ruth Dallas 345 Photographs of Pioneer Women Donald Hall 346 Names of Horses George Mackay Brown 347 The Ballad of John Barleycorn, The Ploughman, and the Furrow Grace Nichols 349 Sugar Cane Linda Gregg 350 Fish Tea Rice Derek Mahon 351 Everything Is Going To Be All Right Stanley Kunitz 352 The Round 8 Lives Derek Mahon 354 Lives Brendan Kennelly 356 The Story Gael Turnbull 357 Transmutation Suzanne Cleary 357 Acting Elizabeth Smither 359 The sea question Esther Morgan 359 The Sea Michael Harlow 360 No Problem, But Not Easy Joanne Limburg 361 Seder Night with My Ancestors Agha Shahid Ali 362 The Dacca Gauzes Maya Angelou 363 Still I Rise Gwendolyn Brooks 365 Sadie and Maud Douglas Dunn 365 Glasgow Schoolboys, Running Backwards Denis Glover 366 The Magpies Paul Muldoon 367 The Loaf Vona Groarke 368 Imperial Measure Billy Collins 370 Nostalgia Thomas Lux 371 Plague Victims Catapulted over Walls into Besieged City Ken Smith 371 Part of the crowd that day Tom Paulin 372 Desertmartin Derek Mahon 373 Ecclesiastes Andrew Waterhouse 374 Now the City Has Fallen Peter Reading 375 from Going On Imtiaz Dharker 376 Honour Killing Carol Rumens 377 Geography Lesson W.H. Auden 377 Refugee Blues George Szirtes 378 My father carries me across a field Choman Hardi 379 Escape Journey, 1988 Kapka Kassabova 380 Someone else’s life Jane Griffiths 381 Migration Carl Sandburg 382 Limited Moniza Alvi 382 Arrival, 1946 C.P. Cavafy 383 The City Ken Smith 383 Malenki robot Saadi Youssef 384 The Mouse Carol Rumens 385 The Emigrée James Fenton 386 The Ideal Gwyneth Lewis 386 A Poet’s Confession Zbigniew Herbert 387 Tongue Mihangel Morgan 387 Conversation W.S. Merwin 388 Losing a Language Zbigniew Herbert 389 From the Technology of Tears Agha Shahid Ali 390 from The Country Without a Post Office Yehuda Amichai 391 ‘The Rustle of History’s Wings,’ as They Used to Say Then Yehuda Amichai 392 Jerusalem James Fenton 392 Jerusalem Mahmoud Darwish 395 In This Land Moniza Alvi 395 The Sari James Fenton 396 Wind 9 Mad World Robert Pinsky 398 ABC Gerald Stern 398 The Dog Emily Dickinson 399 ‘I reason, Earth is short…’ William Stafford 400 Earth Dweller Hans Magnus Enzensberger 400 The End of the Owls Miroslav Holub 401 The end of the world Edwin Muir 402 The Horses Vijay Seshadri 403 The Disappearances W.H. Auden 405 The Shield of Achilles Edwin Brock 407 Five Ways to Kill a Man Tadeusz Rózewicz 408 Pigtail Primo Levi 409 Shemà Tadeusz Rózewicz 410 The survivor (attr.) Martin Niemöller 411 ‘First they came for the Jews…’ Erich Fried 411 What Happens Adrian Mitchell 412 To Whom It May Concern W.H. Auden 414 ‘When Statesmen gravely say…’ Hans Magnus Enzensberger 414 Explaining the Declaration Aleksandar Ristovic 415 Untitled Bertolt Brecht 415 War Has Been Given a Bad Name Mahmoud Darwish 416 He Embraces His Murderer Bertolt Brecht 417 from A German War Primer Heberto Padilla 417 Song of the Juggler Erich Fried 418 Conversation with a Survivor Jackie Kay 419 Twelve Bar Bessie Adrienne Rich 420 from An Atlas of the Difficult World Genevieve Taggard 421 At Last the Women Are Moving Carole Satyamurti 421 Ourstory Marge Piercy 422 The low road Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy 423 Revenge Czeslaw Milosz 424 Dedication Douglas Dunn 425 Ratatouille Paul Durcan 426 In Memory: The Miami Showband – Massacred 31 July 1975 James Merrill 427 Casual Wear Yehuda Amichai 428 The Diameter of the Bomb Norman MacCaig 428 The Red and the Black Sinéad Morrissey 429 The Wound Man John Burnside 430 History C.K. Williams 432 The Hearth W.H. Auden 434 Musée des Beaux Arts Wislawa Szymborska 435 Reality Demands Adam Zagajewski 436 Try to Praise the Mutilated World Faiz Ahmed Faiz 437 A Prison Evening Adrienne Rich 438 To the Days Sheenagh Pugh 439 Sometimes Eva Salzman 439 Spells Helen Dunmore 440 Glad of these times Jen Hadfield 441 Staple Island Swing 10 Ends and Beginnings Philip Larkin 444 The Trees M.R. Peacocke 444 Late Snow C.P. Cavafy 445 Candles Saadi Youssef 446 Night in Al-Hamra Helen Dunmore 446 Candle poem Mark Strand 447 A Piece of the Storm Bernard O’Donoghue 448 Going Without Saying Patrick Kavanagh 448 Wet Evening in April W.S. Merwin 448 For the Anniversary of My Death Adrienne Rich 449 Final Notations Raymond Carver 450 Gravy Jane Kenyon 450 In the Nursing Home Jo Shapcott 451 Lovebirds Sharon Olds 451 Beyond Harm Roy Fisher 452 The Entertainment of War Seamus Heaney 453 Mid-Term Break Robert Kroetsch 454 Sounding the name Stephen Dobyns 455 When a Friend Edwin Brock 456 And another thing… Michael Longley 457 Detour Paul Durcan 458 Tullynoe: Tête-à-Tête in the Priest’s Parlour Bernard O’Donoghue 458 Concordiam in Populo Elizabeth Smither 459 A cortège of daughters Meg Bateman 460 After the Funeral Virginia Hamilton-Adair 460 A Last Marriage Anne Stevenson 461 Musician’s Widow Lauris Edmond 462 Anniversary R.S. Thomas 463 A Marriage Carol Muske-Dukes 463 Love Song Ruth Stone 464 Poems Antonio Machado 465 The Eyes Ruth Stone 465 Curtains Elizabeth Jennings 466 Not at Home Jane Hirshfield 467 A Room Brendan Kennelly 468 We Are Living Marie Howe 469 What the Living Do Norman Nicholson 470 Sea to the West Lauris Edmond 471 Girls Czeslaw Milosz 472 A Mistake Tony Hoagland 472 Migration Michael Hartnett 473 A Prayer for Sleep Ruth Pitter 474 The Task James K. Baxter 474 from Autumn Testament Mary Oliver 476 Some Questions You Might Ask M.K. Joseph 476 A Riddle: Of the Soul Michael Hartnett 477 ‘There will be a talking…’ Gary Snyder 478 For the children Ruth Stone 478 In the Next Galaxy Jane Kenyon 479 Let Evening Come T.S. Eliot 480 from Four Quartets 484 Further reading 487 Acknowledgements 496 Index of writers 502 Index of titles and first lines

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Book SynopsisIf you think often about the past or battle with overthinking and self-esteem, girl made of glass is for you. This collection is about finding yourself, forgiving yourself, and loving yourself. It explores the many ways our past haunts us, but will leave you feeling hopeful about your future.girl made of glass is a poetry collection about how our past—past mistakes, relationships, and regrets—can linger into our future. Broken into four parts, this book is about finding, forgiving, and loving ourselves. The Nightmares explores our past and the moments that haunt us. The Mirror delves into insecurity and how we might haunt ourselves. The Shattering investigates relationships and how they can break us. The Enchantment delivers an uplifting conclusion of self-love and growth.

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Book Synopsisthe tenth poetry collection from amanda lovelace deviates from the well-worn path of fairy tales & myths, instead bringing readers face to face with the person behind the poems that have made her beloved.from bestselling poetess amanda lovelace comes she followed the moon back to herself, an autobiographical standalone poetry collection that follows a woman who—through heartbreak, bottles of rosé, & the general messiness of life—felt like she completely lost who she was. each bitesize poem shines a light on where she’s been & how she’s managed to overcome it all, offering a dose of hope & moondust to all who join her on the journey back to herself.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of the American Book Award, the Palestine Book Award and Arrowsmith Press's 2023 Derek Walcott Poetry PrizeNational Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry FinalistPraise for Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear and Mosab Abu Toha:"Written from his native Gaza, Abu Toha’s accomplished debut contrasts scenes of political violence with natural beauty: In one poem, a 'nightingale departs the wet earth' two stanzas before the 'sound of a drone / intrudes.'"—The New York Times"Toha’s meticulous, and often brief, lines thread his own breathing witness into a poetry of mighty resolve, insisting poetry itself be worthy of a Palestinian lament….So haunting, so searing, and above all, so lit by Mosab Abu Toha’s vibrant—what else to call it?—love.”—Canisia Lubrin, Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry Judge "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is almost uniformly uninterested in palatability. This is not to say that the poems are not enjoyable, because they are, but it isn’t because they take their base materials of agony, fatigue, fear, pellucid images, and the occasional twist of wit and try to alchemize them into false hope or squeeze them into anodyne platitudes. There is an unwaveringness in the poems’ tone, and in their sequencing. One after the other, they recount—with occasional wryness, rarely varying flatness—daily experiences of bombs, tanks, death, power cuts, loss, and fear."—Conor Bracken, Cleveland Review of Books"Like poets he admires, Abu Toha attempts to find beauty around him, however fleeting, and he also takes the reader on philosophical explorations of his reality. The poems don’t just explore the physical experience of the conflict but also what isn’t there because of generations of conflict. Not only does he contemplate the lives lost in Gaza but also the lost experiences: not being able to grow up in family homes, not having a grave of a loved one to visit, or, for Abu Toha specifically, not being able to go on adventures in the city of Jaffa that was lost to his grandparents who fled their home to Gaza."—World Literature Today"There is a duality to the poems, a contrast of beauty and violence. Images of dust, concrete, and gunfire tell a story of growing up under siege. These same elements will stay with the reader for days. The book is very visual both in language and in photographs that make the lines hit even harder. Some of the forms and line breaks feel loose, but they are made with passion and striking details."—Booklist"The sensational young Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha deftly harnesses the raw power of words and imagery to expose the cruel and often absurd realities of sustaining life in a city under siege. Abu Toha, who reflects on his family's prolonged statelessness, is a literary warrior for whom crafting poetry is an act of resistance against the occupying power. … His debut poetry collection offers emotionally frank vignettes as well as an extended interview conducted by Ammiel Alcalay. The poetry cracks open a window to the stark realities of life for Gaza's struggling residents, with Abu Toha serving as a gentle yet insistent messenger who whispers: 'Look, see our wounds, they are real.'"—Shelf Awareness, starred review"With this breakthrough debut collection, Mosab Abu Toha joins an extraordinary group of poets, intellectuals, and writers who have given voice to the resilience of the Palestinian people and their continued fight for justice while facing violent and inhuman conditions under Israel's continued military occupation … Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear resists erasure and forgetting to imagine a future for Palestine: it is the 'rose … among the ruins of the house,' an image of survival that beckons the eternal return of beauty and justice."—Banipal Magazine"Mosab Abu Toha's poems are short, accessible, visceral, and beautiful. 'Palestine A-Z' cries out for use in the classroom. Students will also be interested in the interview with Abu Toha at the end of the book. He talks about his childhood, what led him to poetry, and the context for some of the poems."—Rethinking Schools"The proximity of death is palpable in Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha’s devastating debut collection … But even in the face of interminable violence, there’s an ironic distancing at work … An 'interlude' includes a series of photographs and accompanying captions. One depicts a schoolyard filled with children, and below it the words 'Mid-Term Test' are followed by a question: 'When a drone follows you on your way to school, what is it doing[?]' A range of possible answers are offered in multiple-choice format, including: 'It’s counting your steps to make sure you’re getting your daily exercise.' Such subdued humor filters through many of the poems in this collection, and the book closes on a hopeful note."—Diego Baez, Harriet Books, Poetry Foundation"The Gaza of Mosab Abu Toha’s childhood is a land of tortured ambiguities, a precarious, uncertain place where 'you don’t know what you’re guilty of,' where 'breathing is a task' and 'smiling is performing / plastic surgery,' as he writes in two poems from Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear (City Lights). Yet Palestine is also a land of poetry, of Mahmoud Darwish and Tawfiq Ziad. Abu Toha has now slipped seamlessly into that mantle, and this first collection announces his arrival at the helm of a new generation of Palestinian poets."—Jacob Appel, National Book Critics Circle Awards"Reading the poems of Mosab Abu Toha is a breath-taking experience. Published by the prestigious City Lights Books, his poetry provides an important insider perspective on life in Gaza. From its surrealistic title to the interview with the poet that concludes the book there is much to discover and appreciate in this volume."—Jonathan Harrington, Beltway Poetry Quarterly"Takes the reader on a turbulent journey of emotion with a series of gradual realizations where Palestinians come to terms with identity, memory and loss."—The New Arab"Abu Toha takes readers on a journey, from the moment he began writing poetry in the midst of an Israeli offensive on Gaza in 2014. His collection of poems feature stories about poverty in Gaza, life under the siege, unemployment, and tales of bombs, on almost every page. This of course is no coincidence, as Abu Toha’s poetry was born in the midst of the 2014 war."—Mondoweiss"Mosab Abu Toha is neither a journalist nor a historian, but simply a young man whose four grandparents were forcibly removed from their homes in 1948, whose parents were born in refugee camps, and who himself was born in a refugee camp called Al-Shati in 1992. He is married, and the father of three young children. These poems, written in English, are alternately sweet, bitter-sweet, angry, bewildered, and heart-breaking."—Hollywood Progressive"Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is an account of what is lost in war, and what is preserved, both tangible and intangible. Abu Toha writes of his life under attack and threat of attack in Gaza, chronicling both the devastation of being hunted in your own homeland and the small pockets of grace found amongst the ruins. It is these scraps of a different, possible life that become the inheritance of those from whom all else has been taken. … a startling collection rising up from the ruins of human hatred, reaching for the sun through drifting smoke."—David Nilsen, On the Seawall"This may be one of the finest poetry books of this year. … It is a complex book about a complex world, born from a contentious war that has lasted three generations, told by a youthful voice that has known nothing but. … It is a book rife with death yet painted in every corner with an almost unbearable amount of life."—New York Journal of Books"Mosab Abu Toha is an astonishingly gifted young poet from Gaza, almost a seer with his eloquent lyrical vernacular, his visions of life, continuity, time, possibility, and beauty. His poems break my heart and awaken it, at the same time. I feel I have been waiting for his work all my life."—Naomi Shihab Nye, author of The Tiny Journalist"Mosab Abu Toha's elegant and unforgettable poetry calls me to celebrate the struggle to survive. Though forged in the bleak landscape of Gaza, he conjures a radiance that echoes Miłosz and Kabir. These poems are like flowers that grow out of bomb craters and Mosab Abu Toha is an astonishing talent to celebrate."—Mary Karr, author of Tropic of Squalor"Mosab Abu Toha's Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear arrives with such refreshing clarity and voice amidst a sea of immobilizing self-consciousness. It is no great feat to say a complicated thing in a complicated way, but here is a poet who says it plain: 'In Gaza, some of us cannot completely die.' Later, 'This is how we survived.' It’s remarkable. This is poetry of the highest order."—Kaveh Akbar, author of Pilgrim Bell"It has been amazing, and inspiring, to see how people surviving in the Gaza prison, subject to constant and vicious attack and living under conditions of brutal deprivation, continue to maintain their dignity and commitment to a better life. Mosab Abu Toha’s initiative to create a library and cultural center in Gaza is an outstanding example of these remarkable efforts. What he is seeking to achieve would make a very significant contribution to enriching the lives of Gazans and providing them with opportunities for a much better future. It merits strong support from everyone concerned with justice and basic human rights."—Noam Chomsky on the Edward Said Public Library founded by Mosab Abu Toha“This is a debut collection by Mosab Abu Toha and it’s magnificent. The last book I read before reading this collection was Bittersweet by Susan Cain—a book about how not only is hardship inevitable, it often leads to amazing creative offerings. This couldn’t have been a better prelude to reading Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear. I’d be hard-pressed to tell you if the most common word in the collection is bomb or shrapnel or F-16s. The author has drawn on his childhood in Gaza for the material of this collection. With that heartbreaking material, an incredible and beautiful creative offering has risen from its ashes.”—Jennifer Willis Geraedts, Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery, Park Rapids, MN"In his searing and unflinching debut, Mosab Abu Toha writes of his beloved Gaza and the torments it continues to endure. These poems speak with palpable urgency. Nevertheless underneath the terror, there’s a lingering sense of optimism and survival: 'Through it all, the strawberries have never stopped growing.'"—James Fraser, Grolier Poetry Book Shop, Cambridge, MA"In a world that is being destroyed by forces that seem too big to fight, Mosab Abu Toha's poems show us the disappearing beauty of his homeland and the human cost of our apathy and passivity in the wake of our government's violence. May these delicate and powerful poems stir your heart and drive you to action."—Mandy Medley, Pilsen Community Books, Chicago, IL"'We deserve a better death,' begins one of Mosab Abu Toha's poems halfway through his remarkable collection, one that both honors the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have died since the 1940s, strangers in their own homeland; and celebrates the ways in which Palestinians today affirm their pasts, their presents, and their futures in the face of daily terror. The movement across the poems, fluid and urgent, brings a spectrum of Palestinian experiences and voices to life, filtered through Toha's incandescent voice. 'Why is it when I dream of Palestine, / that I see it in black and white?' he asks in 'Notebooks,' but for the reader, Palestine, in all its brutal occupation and its determination to survive, shines in awesome color."—Anna Claire Weber, White Whale Bookstore, Pittsburgh, PA

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Book SynopsisStep into Stephen Fry's richly colourful world of magic, mayhem, monsters and maniacal gods in MYTHOS: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY . . .No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses.In Stephen Fry''s vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds.Mythos: The Illustrated Story captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age in striking colour - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.

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Book SynopsisAbrāo’s work has been described by The Outline as “an existential funhouse of familiar thoughts” that “publicly grapples with pillars of its own existence within the influencer economy.” Alongside The Outline, her work has been featured in publications such as The Atlantic, Dazed, The Harvard Crimson, and The Face, among others. In response to Abrāo’s work, Dazed Magazine wrote, “Gabi debunks the myth that wellness is the preserve of the privileged, and in doing so hands it back to the masses,” and Notes on Shapeshifting is a reminder that we are agents of the change that we seek. Gabi Abrāo’s Notes on Shapeshifting is an ode to existing in physical form, fully aware of the changing energy that flows through every aspect of it. As Abrāo writes, “tapping into the ether body to take a break from the demands of the earth body, / making peace with ephemerality, / lightness, / shapeshifting”. Throughout this collection, you are invited to travel through various states; pure infatuation to heartbreak, confidence to defeat, from a skepticism for living to a full-on trust in it. And Notes on Shapeshifting yearns to soothe and arouse along the way.

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Book SynopsisProviding an insight into the mind of one of the leading intellectuals of the modern age, this title chronicles the cultural, moral, and political journeys of this renowned critic and artist at the height of her powers.Trade ReviewRevelatory in the most profound sense * The Times *Gold dust * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisWINNER of the INTERNATIONAL GRIFFIN POETRY PRIZE WINNER of the BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD FINALIST for the 2020 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD On October 27, 2003, Adnan received a post card of a palm tree from the poet Khaled Najar, who she had met in the late seventies in Tunisia, sparking a collection of poems that would unspool over the next decade in a continuous discovery of the present moment. Originally written in French, these poems collapse time into single crystallized moments then explode outward to take in the scope of human history. In Time, we see an intertwining of war and love, coffee and bombs, empathetic observation and emphatic detail taken from both memory and the present of the poem to weave a tapestry of experience in non-linear time.Trade Review"A fragmentary, aphoristic examination of night in all its illuminating darkness from a Lebanese-American poet who is also an admired visual artist."—David Orr, The New York Times Book Review, "Best of 2016 Poetry" "Renowned Lebanese-American writer Adnan maps consciousness in a book-length poem that explores night in all its permutations. Though she is more elliptical and fragmentary here—and less narrative-driven or referential—than in previous work, these poems engage in a daring, meditative exploration of perception and her own experiences. Adnan does this with a courageous interiority that becomes universal as the text unfolds. Memory is a particularly notable leitmotif as it relates to identity, whether personal or collective. 'I measure my memory of things, but not memory itself, as the present is also overflowing,' she writes. These internal and societal memories lend themselves to queries about history, landscape, and the nature of consciousness. Adnan posits that memory is not a 'storage room. It’s not a tool for being able to think, it’s thinking, before thinking.' As the book progresses, memory becomes increasingly knotted with loss and mortality: 'It was said that people mattered, which we did, and they lost their shine.' Adnan never provides clear answers, but this prevents her wide-ranging assertions from becoming didactic; her evocative imagery and interwoven repetitions serve to create another memory—one that will linger with the reader long after the text’s conclusion."—Publishers Weekly "Adnan’s Time is a book that crosses continents, encounters wars and heartbreaks, and looks brazenly at one’s own mortality. And these poems do exactly what Adnan states, 'I would like to reflect like a / buoy, thrown out from the depths / to the luminous mortal surface / of the sea.'"—Jennifer Firestone, Tarpaulin Sky "There is a lot happening in these meditative postcards, from bombs dropping in Beruit to a return to Greece, sculptures or stripmining in California, composing a sequence of lyric sketches aware of and very concerned with how easily humanity turns against itself and its own interests, from the larger issues of planetary survival, to the intimate matters of how one person treats another… Yet her poems are filled with such a wonder and an openness, one that shows a wisdom, and, despite everything, an optimism and heart."—rob mclennan, rob mclennan's blog "Through this rejection of boundaries, Adnan delivers an incomparable magnitude of emotional wisdom on the uncertainties that press on through life, writing both clarity and complication into our experience of reality."—Zeena Yasmine Fuleihan, Ploughshares "Adnan poetically navigates the currents of desperation and hope with a clarity placed on the page in short stanzas that we can pick up and roll over in our minds again and again. Like the short lines written on the back of a postcard, the aphoristic quality of these verses allows them to take on different lives. They can be worked over with a different temporality as we return to them for multiple readings, as we explore how they interact with the preceding or following ones, and as we observe how they take on new shapes."—Emma Gomis, Asymptote Journal "Time is a place where language creates the meaningful space between souls, and the great threat to the truth. Time is a place where communication is sacred, where 'love is the subversion of / death', true living, and the body is a communicator of the self. 'Describe the body / if you can / and you will see how unlikely / your soul is.' The body then too is essential to language, to communication, to the 'inbetween' as 'it bursts with life and lasts / briefly.' And its greatest threat is time. Adnan urges we 'listen to the sound of [our] arteries.' She means everything has something to tell us. Everything is offering us an inbetween to come alive in, and we only have so long."—Erintrude Pieta, Kenyon Review

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.

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