Synopses & Reviews
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
BUCOLICS "In these marvelous addresses to the Almighty, Maurice Manning reminds us of our agrarian roots and that our best metaphors for the ineffable all spring from the soil. These psalms, powerful and hectoring, tautological and unique, are reminiscent of King David's. They are spellbinding." --Mark Jarman, author of
To the Green Man PRAISE FOR THE POETRY OF MAURICE MANNING:
"A fresh and brilliant talent."W. S. MERWIN "A Companion for Owls conjures the historical D. Boone, Long Hunter, with astonishing intimacy and convincingness, while at the same time using him to stage profoundly nonhistorical scenes. The lucidity and surprise and soulfulness of their language embody an intelligence and sensibility attainable only in high art. Several times I have had to put Owl down with a shudder, and reload. This is thrilling work." -- James Baker Hall, poet laureate of Kentucky
Review
PRAISE FOR BUCOLICS
"The natural world in these poems is a figure familiar and lush, yet unknowable and everywhere meaningful."American Poet
Review
"Emerson suggests that ‘genius is the activity that repairs the decay of things. Such genius is at work in Patakys debut, Overwinter. . . . [Its] a book that makes of the hearts affections a myriad world, where presence and absence intertwine, and the poet is no more than faithful recorder of difficulty and wonder."
Review
"In a word, Overwinter is about life. Maybe not everyone's life in entirety, but aspects—small details—are related through the eons-long relationship between man and nature. . . . There is much of this introspection and observation, and while it deals with concerns of Alaskan life there is also something for a broader readership in these poems. There's something for anyone that is willing to still their mind, listen and look."
Review
“Pataky’s debut poetry collection, examines the speaker’s isolation and solace in the vast, untamed nature of the Alaskan wilderness. Throughout the collection, the speaker spends his time between a developed city, with its electricity and human companionship, and the natural Alaskan landscape filled with its braided streams, unpredictable wildlife, and endless illusions of light and depth.”
Synopsis
Untitled and unpunctuated, the seventy poems in this acclaimed collection seem to cascade from one page to another. Maurice Manning extolls the virtues of nature and its many gifts, and finds deep gratitude for the mysterious hand that created it all.
that bare branch that branch made black
by the rain the silver raindrop
hanging from the black branch
Boss I like that black branch
I like that shiny raindrop Boss
tell me if Im wrong but it makes
me think youre looking right
at me now isnt that a lark for me
to think you look that way
upside down like a tree frog
Boss Im not surprised at all
I wouldnt doubt it for
a minute youre always up
to something Ill say one thing
youre all right all right you are
even when youre hanging Boss
Synopsis
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
BUCOLICS "In these marvelous addresses to the Almighty, Maurice Manning reminds us of our agrarian roots and that our best metaphors for the ineffable all spring from the soil. These psalms, powerful and hectoring, tautological and unique, are reminiscent of King David's. They are spellbinding." --Mark Jarman, author of
To the Green Man PRAISE FOR THE POETRY OF MAURICE MANNING:
"A fresh and brilliant talent."—W. S. MERWIN "A Companion for Owls conjures the historical D. Boone, Long Hunter, with astonishing intimacy and convincingness, while at the same time using him to stage profoundly nonhistorical scenes. The lucidity and surprise and soulfulness of their language embody an intelligence and sensibility attainable only in high art. Several times I have had to put Owl down with a shudder, and reload. This is thrilling work." -- James Baker Hall, poet laureate of Kentucky
Synopsis
Cascading from one page to another, the seventy poems in this collection read like a love song to creation. Maurice Manning extolls the virtues of nature and its many gifts, and finds deep gratitude for the mysterious hand that created it all. Unpunctuated and untitled, the work wraps you in its reverie and reminds you of the many wonders all around us. Poetry like this is a celebration of life and language, of everything that is.
Synopsis
Jeremy Pataky's debut collection measures familial and romantic love against the wildness of the far north and the self. Remote settings provide both a solace and challenge where the speakers aloneness resists loneliness in full, and fully imagined, places. This is not a static vision, though; the present harkens back to a verdant but distant past. Nor is it a silent world. These poems reconcile the natural quiet and sounds of wilderness with the clamor of built environments. Pataky lives this contrast, migrating seasonally between Anchorage and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. These poems bridge the urban and rural, unifying them through an eros that is by turns fevered and serene. The book is haunted by all those the poet has loved, and they survive in the hidden places sculpted by language.
Synopsis
A debut collection from an exciting new voice in Alaska poetry, Overwinter reconciles the natural quiet of wilderness with the clamor of built environments. Jeremy Pataky’s migration between Anchorage and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park inspires these poems that connect urban to rural. This duality permeates Overwinter. Moments are at turns fevered or serene. The familial and romantic are measured against the wildness of the Far North. Empty spaces bring both solace and loneliness in full. Past loves haunt the present, surviving in the spaces sculpted by language.
About the Author
MAURICE MANNING, the author of four collections of poetry, was awarded the 2009 Hanes Poetry Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His first book, Lawrence Booths Book of Visions, was selected by W. S. Merwin for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Manning, a former writing fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, teaches at Indiana University and Warren Wilson College.
Table of Contents
Contents
boss of the grassy green 1
did you ever have a nickname Boss 3
the night is trotting toward me Boss 4
what color is your collar Boss 5
youre the hay maker Boss 7
do you get happy Boss do you 8
do you have a table 9
O Boss sometimes you take it all 10
are you ever sorry Boss ever 11
you spread the nighttime Boss 12
I told that old dog he 13
why Boss why do the days drift by 14
are you ever in my chest Boss 15
if you had a feed sack Boss what 16
how big is your hand Boss hold it up 17
the light inside the shadow how 18
I like the weaving bees I like 19
there was a fox Boss in my dream 20
you swirl the dirt like nobodys business 21
Ive got butterflies Boss 22
you make it all seem easy Boss 23
yes Ive tried to hide my face 24
did you pull yourself up
by your bootstraps Boss 26
Im sure youve got a sweet spot 27
I guess youve got a lot 28
you toss the stars like clover seed 29
that bare branch that branch made black 30
the two of us were cut 31
boss of the blue sky boss 32
you move in every direction 33
did you teach the woodpecker how 34
the birds the bugs even the trees Boss 35
when you push the clouds
so close together Boss 36
the river looks so level Boss 37
is that you Boss is that 38
of course I like the sun 40
do you have a busy season Boss 41
Im happy Boss happy as a bird 43
did you boss the horse against the barn 44
is there another sky besides 46
the field is flatter than 48
unless my nose is itchy Boss 49
if I say Ive sprung the spring in my step 50
I wonder Boss in all 51
before my eye was burning like 52
the way that buzzard hops it makes 53
I put my face against 54
when I chop wood you warm me twice 55
O boss of ashes boss of dust 56
Ive got a picture of you Boss 57
I got up early Boss the moon 58
your other favorite word 59
Im like an oak tree Boss O 61
you windy blowhard Boss 62
do you put your trousers on one leg 64
are you against me Boss 65
say what have you got underneath 66
guess what Boss Im not even 67
when I see the shadow of the hawk 68
can I say whew to you now Boss 69
you let out light to tease the shadows 70
listen Boss dont think that I 72
my hay day Boss is every day 73
if I didnt know you better Boss 74
the first hawk you hung up in the sky 76
you know that little song 77
it doesnt bother me Boss to have 78
is your barn stuffed to the roof beam 79
beyond the field this time 80
would you trade hee-haws with a crow 82
does an old dog toll beside you Boss 84
you leave a little night inside 86
would you be lonesome if I swam 87
weve always been like this 89
you raise the hawk you hoist the crows 90
thank you for the leaf Boss 92
am I your helper Boss or am 93
Ive got one thing to say to you 94