Capable Ways (Paperback)

Craig Challender

ISBN 10: 1542490561 / ISBN 13: 9781542490566

Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 2017

About this Item

Paperback. "The odds are long. And I / have permission to speak." In a voice as authentic as it is powerful, Challender gives us plain-spoken, heartfelt poems about family, place, love, and loss. Dipping into the well of memory, he evokes generations while recalling a life until now, his sixtieth year, when he has "begun / to wear my death / lightly, try / it on for size." Whether recounting a dream enacting suppressed rage towards a dead brother, watching the three fates attend a son's birth, or riffing on popular culture or academia, the poems run deep with currents of empathy and human connection. They are sometimes dark, but it's a darkness that notices the beauty of "a lake spackled with light; / leaf's syllable, wind-stirred" and can admit joy, as in a beloved daughter seen as "a gift / I wish I could say came from us: when / whoever's DNA dice rolled your way they came up elevens / and sevens." A moving and beautiful book and handy antidote to contemporary social-media-obsessed poetry. - Rebecca Foust, author of "Paradise Drive", winter of the Press 53 Award for Poetry This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781542490566

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Capable Ways (Paperback)
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1542490561
• ISBN 13: 9781542490566
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

“The odds are long. And I / have permission to speak.” In a voice as authentic as it is powerful, Challender gives us plain-spoken, heartfelt poems about family, place, love, and loss. Dipping into the well of memory, he evokes generations while recalling a life until now, his sixtieth year, when he has “begun / to wear my death / lightly, try / it on for size.” Whether recounting a dream enacting suppressed rage towards a dead brother, watching the three fates attend a son’s birth, or riffing on popular culture or academia, the poems run deep with currents of empathy and human connection. They are sometimes dark, but it’s a darkness that notices the beauty of “a lake spackled with light; / leaf’s syllable, wind-stirred” and can admit joy, as in a beloved daughter seen as “a gift / I wish I could say came from us: when / whoever’s DNA dice rolled your way they came up elevens / and sevens.” A moving and beautiful book and handy antidote to contemporary social-media-obsessed poetry. - Rebecca Foust, author of "Paradise Drive", winter of the Press 53 Award for Poetry