Practicing to walk like a heron : poems / by Jack Ridl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ridl, Jack.

Series:

Made in Michigan writers series

Language:

English

Physical Description:

xi, 158 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Detroit : Wayne State University Press, [2013]

Contents:

1 From Our House to Your House

It's Hard to Know Where to Begin 5

From Our House to Your House 6

Growing Up in a Small Town 8

Easter, 1948 9

Hands 11

Ridl Was Once Spelled Hridl 12

A Midsummer Night's Dream 13

My Father Was in Love with Peggy Lee 15

Open to the Psalms 17

The Steps of Pittsburgh 18

It Wasn't Folklore 19

Thinking of Yahweh During a Winter Thaw 20

On My Parents' Sixty-fifth Wedding Anniversary 21

An Afternoon Visiting My Mother in Assisted Living 22

The Days 24

A New Beginning 25

The Letters 27

Fractals: A Nocturne 29

Searching Again for My Father 30

2 The Enormous Mystery of Couples

Suite For the Turning Year 35

On Going with My Wife to Her Doctor 40

The Enormous Mystery of Couples 42

Theme and Variations 44

Oh I Suppose 46

Here in the Time Between 47

Practicing to Walk Like a Heron 49

Some Notes Taken While the Media Try to Come to Terms with the Life and Death of Michael Jackson 50

With 52

Morning Rounds 54

Christmas, the Execution of Tookie Williams 56

The Neighbors 57

William Blake's Hiccoughs 59

After Talking It Over 60

Just Before He Had Another Panic Attack 61

Mid-October Morning 62

Ron Howard's on the Cover of AARP 63

Take Love for Granted 65

My Wife Has Sent Me an Email 67

A Quiet Study in Black and Gray 69

Speaking Objectively in Winter 70

Raking the Duck Weed 72

Putting Away the Santas 73

Hardship in a Nice Place 75

The End of This Year 76

Have You Heard the One About? 77

It's April and It Should Be Spring 78

Epilogue 79

Interlude: "Hey Skinny, the Circus Is in Town!"

Circus: Late Summer 83

Outside the Center Ring 85

Grouse of the Circus Boss 87

After the Lion Tamer 88

Sequins 90

Daydreams of the Catcher of the Queen of the Air 92

Suzie 94

The Death of the Queen of the Air 96

Circus Cook 98

The End of the Fat Lady 101

Death in the Dog Act 103

The Children of the Lion Tamer 104

Roustabout 106

Clown 108

The Balloon Man 110

Night on the Circus Lot 112

Winter Quarters 114

3 The Hidden Permutations of Sorrow

The Two Chairs in the Garden 119

What Are You Supposed to Do Anyway? 120

Within the Moment of Indefinite Suffering 121

The Hidden Permutations of Sorrow 122

Listening to Chopin in Early Winter 123

At the "As the Spirit Moves" Poetry Reading 124

Instead of Planting Roses 125

The Man Who Loved Mulch 126

After Midnight: Insomnia's Solace 128

A Man I Know 129

"Moose. Indian." 130

Several Old People Are Walking by Our Window 131

A List of Possibilities in an Uncertain Order 132

He Brings Home Everything 133

Monet's "Winter on the Seine, Lavacourt" 134

Preludes 135

Another Puppet Show 137

The Reunion 141

The Dogs' Door Is at the Far End of the House 142

The Artist to the Canvas 143

A Christmas List for Santa 144

But He Loved His Dog 145

A Cabinet of Natural Curiosities 147

The Yearling with the Broken Leg 148

Another Day in Your Life 150

The Knitters 151

Drinking Black Tea Early in the Morning 152

For Lenny 154

A Generous Welcome 155

After Spending the Morning Baking Bread 156

Return to a Place I Don't Remember 157

The Heron 158.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

9780814334539

0814334539

9780814335390

081433539X

OCLC:

798809940