It seems like a mighty long time : poems / Angela Jackson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jackson, Angela, 1951- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American poetry.

Genre:

Poetry.

Physical Description:

xiii, 124 pages ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Evanston, Illinois : TriQuarterly Books, 2015.

Summary:

Angela Jackson's latest collection of poetry borrows its title from a lyric in Barbara Lewis's 1963 hit single "Hello Stranger," recorded at Chess Records in Chicago. Like the song, Jackson's poems are a melodic ode to the African American experience, informed by both individual lives and community history, from the arrival of the first African slave in Virginia in 1619 to post-Obama America. It Seems Like a Mighty Long Time reflects the maturity of Jackson's poetic vision. The Great Migration, the American South, and Chicago all serve as signposts, but it is the complexity of individual lives-both her own and those who have gone before, walk beside, and come after-that invigorate this collection. Upon surveying so vast a landscape, Jackson finds that sorrow meets delight, and joy lifts up anger and despair. And for all this time, love is the agent, the wise and just rule and guide. Book jacket.

Contents:

I

The Fabric of Our Lives 7

Crowning 8

Perfect Pears 9

My Father's Prayers 11

Territory 12

Hope 14

Mama in Blue, White, and Love 15

In My Father's House Are Many Stories 17

II

Elam House 23

The Day after All Saints Day Is All Souls Day 25

Her Memory Coming Home 26

Photograph: Circa 1960 28

A Thousand Pages 29

Pendulum 31

Phillis 33

After Work 35

Vocabulary 37

III

The Red Line Is the Soul Train 41

Notes above the Stream, a Part of the Stream 45

A Woman Was Being Raped 47

Eclipse 48

IV Suite: Ida

Ida Watches 51

Two Trains 52

Did Ida B. Wells Ever Pass Bessie Smith on the Boulevard? 53

Kokomo 54

V

Looking Back 59

Betrayal 60

Hot Pink Flamingoes 61

Fuchsia 63

The Scarf 64

The Rape of Memory 66

Sleep 68

VI

American Justice 73

In These Times 75

Warm Weather 76

Beginner's Luck 77

Nocturnal 81

Niger: No Exit 82

VII

The Last Door 87

Glory Land 89

Haiti, It Has Been Thirty Years Since I Last Saw You 97

The Moment of Arrival 99

VIII

The Smoke Queen 103

The Good Neighbor Observes the Celebrity Next Door 107

You Do Not Know the Hour 109

Heaven Is No Recompense 110

For Gwen, On Her Passing 111

The Poem in the Pocket 113

Faith II 115

An African Reunion 116

The Ritual Calendar of Yes 118

Leaf 120

April 6, 1991 123.

ISBN:

0810130513

9780810130517

OCLC:

879583919

Publisher Number:

99962330572