Cold Storage

The poems in Cold Storage are revelations in the fullest sense, uncovering a world at once familiar and rendered new again in resplendent, transformative detail: a halo on the threshing floor, a drop of water on the skin, the nearing dark. Keith Althaus is a poet who walks by the shadow yet thrills with his illuminations, producing lanterns from yucca blossoms, a last breath, or “ a plain hospital gown.” Here, light is what surrounds a painting or frames a closed door, saturating both the landscape and the interior of the self until “ even darkness glows.” With spare language and a painter’ s eye, Althaus delivers poems that are intimate yet gorgeous, effortless yet intricate. This book marks the stunning return of one of America’ s pure voices in poetry— and we are grateful for the light he has cast.

Keith Althaus is the author of two other poetry collections, RIVAL HEAVENS (Provincetown Arts Press, 1993) and LADDER OF HOURS (Ausable Press, 2005). He has received a Pushcart Prize as well as grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Foundation of the Arts. In 1969 he was one of the first Writing Fellows at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He lives on Cape Cod with his wife, the artist Susan Baker.