May Day

Poems

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book May Day by Gretchen Marquette, Graywolf Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Gretchen Marquette ISBN: 9781555979362
Publisher: Graywolf Press Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: Graywolf Press Language: English
Author: Gretchen Marquette
ISBN: 9781555979362
Publisher: Graywolf Press
Publication: May 3, 2016
Imprint: Graywolf Press
Language: English

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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

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.

More books from Graywolf Press

Cover of the book I Will Take the Answer by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Sometimes I Think About It by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Tumbledown by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Child Wonder by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Her Body and Other Parties by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Assumption by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Standoff by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Fen by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book The Colour of Memory by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book The Art of Description by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book In This Light by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book Halls of Fame by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book All That Man Is by Gretchen Marquette
Cover of the book The Empathy Exams by Gretchen Marquette
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy