You arrive at my altar
with no idea
what it means to worship--to adore.
You haven't even learned it:
ecstasy and suffering
make the same face.
--from "The Offering"
May Day is both a distress call and a celebration of the arrival of spring. In this rich and unusually assured first collection, the poet Gretchen Marquette writes of the losses of a brother gone off to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a great love--losses that have left the world charged with absence and grief. But there is also the wonder of the natural world: the deer at the edge of the forest, the dog reliably coaxing the poet beyond herself and into the city park where by tradition every May Day is pageantry, a festival of surviving the long winter. "What does it mean to be in love?" one poem asks. "As it turns out, / the second best thing that can happen to you / is a broken heart."
May Day introduces readers to a new poet of depth and power.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Gretchen Marquette has published poems in Harper's Magazine, The Paris Review, and Tin House. She lives and teaches in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“The poems [in May Day] plumb stories of lost love and anxiety, but each unearths glimpses of life’s wonder.” ―Euan Kerr, MPR
“Lovely, dark, haunted, and haunting. . . . [Marquette’s] subjects―childhood memories of a brother and bracing visions of him on military deployment overseas; hungering, fragile love; the very nature of human experience―are so carefully handled, with such resolve and resignation. . . . Readers will remember this book.”―Publishers Weekly
"Startlingly original. . . . Marquette's beautiful and macabre images have the feel of a classic fairy tale."―Star Tribune
“Impressive.”―Largehearted Boy
“‘Why am I so ungainly with love / after all the loving I’ve done?’ asks Gretchen Marquette in this beautiful and disquieting new collection... The spring celebration of May Day becomes―and is simultaneously―the distress cry. It is as if in these pages Marquette has learned to wear ‘her heart outside of her body.’ The alertness, precision, and vulnerability of these poems are astonishing.”―Mary Szybist
“In this somber, well-crafted debut volume, Gretchen Marquette has constructed an arresting study of absence and loss... It is the true sign of a poet that, out of this landscape, Marquette has carved a commanding, deeply felt book.”―Lynn Emanuel
“May Day is a book of great delicacy of observation and noticing, but one that interrogates feeling with rigor, intelligence, and a radiant imagination.”―Mark Wunderlich
“In this delicate, soulful collection, the countless arresting facts of our universe--the size of galaxies, the nesting habits of cardinals, the cottonwood's serrated leaves―are felt as intimately as the loss of love or worry about a brother gone to war. . . Alternating between narrative prose poems and brief, breathier lines, the book plumbs the depths of love and grief with attention and tenderness.”―Mairead Small Staid, Literati Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
FREE
Within U.S.A.
Shipping:
US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Item in good condition. Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc. Seller Inventory # 00040996177
Quantity: 4 available
Seller: BooksRun, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Ship within 24hrs. Satisfaction 100% guaranteed. APO/FPO addresses supported. Seller Inventory # 1555977391-8-1
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.4. Seller Inventory # G1555977391I4N00
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # 9891819-6
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Once Upon A Time Books, Siloam Springs, AR, U.S.A.
paperback. Condition: Acceptable. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear . It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. Seller Inventory # mon0001263611
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Bookoutlet1, Easley, SC, U.S.A.
Condition: VeryGood. Ships Within 24 Hours M-F- Satisfaction Guaranteed! Has a publisher overstock mark. Item is in Good Condition. Clean Copy With Light Amount of Wear. Seller Inventory # 39B9LN006NGJ
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Magers and Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
paperback. Condition: Like New. May have light shelf wear and/or a remainder mark. Complete. Clean pages. Seller Inventory # 1004584
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Magers and Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
paperback. Condition: Very Good. May have light to moderate shelf wear and/or a remainder mark. Complete. Clean pages. Seller Inventory # 1362194
Quantity: 18 available
Seller: GF Books, Inc., Hawthorne, CA, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Book is in Used-Good condition. Pages and cover are clean and intact. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. 0.4. Seller Inventory # 1555977391-2-4
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Books Unplugged, Amherst, NY, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Buy with confidence! Book is in good condition with minor wear to the pages, binding, and minor marks within 0.4. Seller Inventory # bk1555977391xvz189zvxgdd
Quantity: 1 available