Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, this new collection of verse from Atsuro Riley offers a vivid weavework rendering and remembering an American place and its people.
Trade Review"A landscape charged with the bright light of discernment, where emotions are stirred by rhythmic torsion and sonic density."--Julie Carr, judge, Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America "Intoxicating. . . Sounds unheard and unrivaled since Atsuro Riley's acclaimed debut permeate Heard-Hoard. His elegant rhythms are atmospheric and robust, his neologisms transform the 'weed-embrangling snuffle-path, ' his vernacular is magical as 'dew-sparks galaxifying the crabgrass.' Amid each mesmerizing reading, like dancing to a good song for a good long time before truly hearing its lyrics, Heard-Hoard's remarkable stories crystallize; music becomes narrative. Atsuro Riley is an extraordinary poet. This book holds all the meanings of fantastic." --Terrance Hayes "Magnificently singular. If evocation of place, however pungent, were the main thing in Riley's work I wouldn't be very interested. But he's pursuing something a lot more ambitious, even abstract, that has deeply to do with, I almost want to say, sacred properties of language or language that could cast a spell against harm. He needs to make big sense; he has the deep confidence it takes to press language hard--not for self-amusement but to hear something he is desperate to hear." --Kay Ryan "The category of the 'mythic' has been much cheapened by overuse, but Atsuro Riley's Heard-Hoard restores the term to its original and originary power. The English language has rarely been so richly augmented in such little space." --Linda Gregerson
Table of ContentsCRACKLER CALL SUNDER SHED STRIPLINGS CHORUS: Petition MOTH CREEKTHROAT DUET CLARY CHORUS: Lobe STRANGER CAW CRAW GOLDHOUND CHORUS: Milk ORIGIN RHYTHM CHORUS: Seed ELEMENT CHORUS: Knell OAK LADDER CHORUS: Hankerer THICKET Notes Acknowledgments About the Author
