The Smallest Bird in North America (New Issues Poetry & Prose) - Softcover

Grunst, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0932826962 ISBN 13: 9780932826961

Publisher: New Issues Poetry and Prose, 2000

Synopsis

Poetry. "With the observational eye of Charles Darwin and the soul of John Muir, Robert Grunst...takes us on a journey of the flora and fauna of his life in the Midwest and West"--Mary Swander. "Mixing scientific knowledge with lyrical panache, Grunst offers us a wealth of colorful (and memorable) fact... and he has a live, surprising language for what lies beyond facts, too, finding... that a bucket drowned in Clear Lake can remain `shining and surer than the risen Christ.' One of his most hauntingly evocative poems ends with the phrase, `infinitesimal treasures of the sea.' It is a phrase that aptly describes the rich lyrical and meditative sea-harvest of this remarkable first collection"--Eamon Grennan.

About this title

About the Author

ROBERT GRUNST was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was raised there and in Holland, Michigan. He taught 9th grade English in Midland, Michigan, and later worked as a deckhand and as an engineer aboard commercial fishing vessels on Lakes Michigan and Superior. He holds an M.F.A., an M.A.W., and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has published many essays focusing on the language, culture, and history of Great Lakes commercial fishing people. His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, The Review, and elsewhere. He is an Associate Professor English at The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Orchard House Near the Vistula River September, 1939

Her oils spread out on the yellowed counter, Her brushes in a jar, A woman is painting a peach On an enameled kitchen Cabinet door. Three boys watch the peach Take form out of nothing. What had they come to ask her? She is balancing on the third step Of her stool, and everything, Everything in the world is the matter. Where has she ever Seen such a peach, filled with such light And such sorrow? If she steadies her hand and completes it, What hope, what love Might the peach proclaim in its fullness? Will her brush refuse to hold The last touches of color? On the screen A huge bee is droning. Ten-thousand feet above the land, aircraft Motors are droning. The boys are awaiting an answer. Does she hear? Can she hurry? Oh, beautiful Peach. Beautiful peach.

Edition details

• Publisher: New Issues Poetry and Prose
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0932826962
• ISBN 13: 9780932826961
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 62