This is a story of epic ambition—literally. It is one of an ambiguous and contestable heroism, of guilt, of stigma, of resilience, of mental illness, and of baseball. There’s music and murder, sanity, sainthood, and sickness. There is love within and across generations, and there is loss and grief. There’s hatred, crime, and revenge. There is baseball, the violin, philosophy, natural and hard-earned talents, mentored and mentor. Not enough yet? Here is a story of Kid Dee, of his unusual mo...

What is it about those moments of breathtaking beauty within our lives that make them so elusive to description?In this book, we shall argue that we know the answer. And it is this: such moments must defy description: were they not so resistant they'd fail their own birthing. Their nature stands apart from problem-solving. It is, instead and indeed, one of enigma. Breathtaking beauty, the sublime, is an experience of enigma.And here we go further: ...

None of these poems have been previously published. I am the photographer for all the pictures you’ll see in the book. I was inspired to make use of the photographs, all originally taken for a different purpose, by W. G. Sebald’s use of photographs in his novel Austerlitz. Which is not to pretend to the moral and tragic dimension of that great work: these poems are motivated most often toward whimsy, stillness, or both, to which the photos are point and counterpoint. They were written over...

Algedonic is an aesthetic outlook on pain and pleasure. Complex emotions simplified into poetic interludes as only r.h. Sin can express. With his trademark of giving simplicity to some of the hardest of emotions, Sin reminds us all that there are often two sides to an emotional story and sometimes the pain transforms into something beautiful, something less problematic and maybe something that reignites a feeling of pleasure.

What Is the Real Secret of Obtaining Desirable Possessions?Are some people born under a lucky star or other charm which enables them to have all that which seems so desirable, and if not, what is the cause of the difference in conditions under which men live?Many years ago, feeling there must be a logical answer to this question, I decided to find out, if possible, what it was. I found the answer to my own satisfaction, and for years, have given the information to others wh...

Finalist for the National Book Award: May Sarton at her evocative and contemplative bestThe title poem of this entrancing collection compares love to salt for its ability both to dissolve and to crystallize "into a presence." At once philosophical and fiercely corporeal, this work presents emotion as a sensory experience. Written with Sarton's characteristic concision, these deeply felt poems will delight readers.

From the winner of the 2013 Barnard Women Poets Prize, chosen by Louise Glück, a daring and exuberant new collection.Moving through myths of the American landscape, the fatalism of American Puritanism, family history, New England winters, aesthetic theory, and the suavities and anxieties of contemporary life, the poems in this astonishing collection ultimately speak about the individual soul’s struggle with its own meaning. “In its stern and quiet way Sandra Lim’s ...

In May Sarton's seventeenth and final collection of poetry, the writer reflects on life, aging, and mortalityComing into Eighty presents a poet's look at age. Herein, Sarton gives readers a glimpse into her quotidian tasks, her memories, her losses, and her triumphs. The volume explores topics ranging from the war in Iraq to the struggle of taking a cat to the vet. Dark and immediate, this work catalogues both the tedium and the splendor of life with equal...

John Ashbery's first published book of poems, handpicked from the slush pile by none other than W. H. AudenAshbery's Some Trees narrowly beat out a manuscript by fellow New York poet Frank O'Hara to win the renowned Yale Series of Younger Poets prize in 1955—after the book had been rejected in an early screening round. Competition judge W. H. Auden was perhaps the first to note, in his original preface to Some Trees, the meditative polyphony that d...

This is a collection of 30 Poems of the style of French Poetry. The themes are diverse and the tools of modern and classical poetry are included. Each poem has 8 to 12 Stanzas of 4 Verses each, except for a minority that obeys to a slightly different style. At the end of each poem is illustrated a representative image.May this Enchanted Poetry transport you to a world of De...

Leave it to the graceful Marie Ponsot, now in her late eighties, to view her life in poetry as easeful. As she tells us, pondering what stones can hear, “Between silence and sound / we are balancing darkness, / making light of it.” In this celebratory collection, Ponsot makes light, in both senses, of all she touches, and her pleasure in offering these late poems is infectious. After more than a half century at her craft, she describes her poetic preferences unpretentiously thus: “no fruit...

"It is impossible for me to write about the imagination; it is like asking a fish to describe the sea," Mary Ruefle announces at the start of her essay. With wit and intellectual abandon, Ruefle draws inspiration from Wittgenstein, Shakespeare, Jesus, Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash, and Emily Dickson to explore her subject. The chapbook features original interior illustrations.Mary Ruefle is the author of numerous volumes of poetry and prose, including Madness, Rack, ...