University Press of Colorado, 2012 Paper: 978-1-885635-27-3 | eISBN: 978-1-885635-28-0 Library of Congress Classification PS3603.H74567F36 2012 Dewey Decimal Classification 811.6
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Winner of the 2012 Colorado Prize for Poetry, selected by Elizabeth Willis
"Family System is one of the most specific and clarifying books of poetry I’ve ever read. It is filled with choices—made, to be made, not made—handled with a poetic understanding that what seems arbitrary will be inevitable when said with the right words while singing the right songs. This is a stand-out first book, introducing a first-rate original talent, doing powerful work, making quintessentially lyrical choices. Don’t miss this book.”
—Dara Wier
“It seems that Jack Christian’s brain is able to produce tiny lucid creatures, have them run and sprinkle over a map of an unknown world with joy, speed and delight. Even stranger, he’s somehow the spiritual offspring of very different ancestors: Pascal’s Esprit de Geometrie and Scandinavian mythology. ‘I was eulogizing a squirrel in a shoebox.’ Brilliant.”
—Tomaž Šalamun
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jack Christian was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1978. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, and teaches writing at Westfield State University. This is his first book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover
CONTENTS
ONE
FAMILY SYSTEM
NEW REVISED STANDARD
A CIRCUMFERENCE
A TREE
MARIE
MY LIFE
GLADETOWN CEMETERY
RURAL MANAGEMENT
I AM YOURS
ROSELAND
A SIMILE
A MIND IS MADE OF GRASSES
A GIANT REALM
WIDESPREAD, PLAUSIBLE
POEM OF MY HOPE
TWO
A PARADOX
IN A MEADOW ON A BEAM
MORE LIKE A FACTORY
REPORTER
AFTER A PAINTING BY HENRYK FANTAZOS
A FENCE
RESPONSIBILITY
EIGHT MONKS IN UNISON
MARCH WITH WOUNDED HOUND
ORGANIZATION IS ALSO A MAKING
AS SURELY
A HILL
A CATARACT
LET’S COLLABORATE
THREE
HELL IS FIRE HEAVEN IS CAKE
MOURNING PICTURE
YOU’RE RIGHT I DID ENJOY THE EXCURSION TO THE BUNGALOW
TWELVE SONGS
AN APE
TAXONOMY
OUR AIR IS MORE A BRANCH
WE’RE CHANGING IRONY
EARLY SPRING
NORTHAMPTON ECSTATIC
ANOTHER EDEN
GOTHIC PEOPLES INSTITUTE
Acknowledgments
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
University Press of Colorado, 2012 Paper: 978-1-885635-27-3 eISBN: 978-1-885635-28-0
Winner of the 2012 Colorado Prize for Poetry, selected by Elizabeth Willis
"Family System is one of the most specific and clarifying books of poetry I’ve ever read. It is filled with choices—made, to be made, not made—handled with a poetic understanding that what seems arbitrary will be inevitable when said with the right words while singing the right songs. This is a stand-out first book, introducing a first-rate original talent, doing powerful work, making quintessentially lyrical choices. Don’t miss this book.”
—Dara Wier
“It seems that Jack Christian’s brain is able to produce tiny lucid creatures, have them run and sprinkle over a map of an unknown world with joy, speed and delight. Even stranger, he’s somehow the spiritual offspring of very different ancestors: Pascal’s Esprit de Geometrie and Scandinavian mythology. ‘I was eulogizing a squirrel in a shoebox.’ Brilliant.”
—Tomaž Šalamun
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jack Christian was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1978. He lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, and teaches writing at Westfield State University. This is his first book.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover
CONTENTS
ONE
FAMILY SYSTEM
NEW REVISED STANDARD
A CIRCUMFERENCE
A TREE
MARIE
MY LIFE
GLADETOWN CEMETERY
RURAL MANAGEMENT
I AM YOURS
ROSELAND
A SIMILE
A MIND IS MADE OF GRASSES
A GIANT REALM
WIDESPREAD, PLAUSIBLE
POEM OF MY HOPE
TWO
A PARADOX
IN A MEADOW ON A BEAM
MORE LIKE A FACTORY
REPORTER
AFTER A PAINTING BY HENRYK FANTAZOS
A FENCE
RESPONSIBILITY
EIGHT MONKS IN UNISON
MARCH WITH WOUNDED HOUND
ORGANIZATION IS ALSO A MAKING
AS SURELY
A HILL
A CATARACT
LET’S COLLABORATE
THREE
HELL IS FIRE HEAVEN IS CAKE
MOURNING PICTURE
YOU’RE RIGHT I DID ENJOY THE EXCURSION TO THE BUNGALOW
TWELVE SONGS
AN APE
TAXONOMY
OUR AIR IS MORE A BRANCH
WE’RE CHANGING IRONY
EARLY SPRING
NORTHAMPTON ECSTATIC
ANOTHER EDEN
GOTHIC PEOPLES INSTITUTE
Acknowledgments
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE