What the dust doesn't know / Richard Schiffman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schiffman, Richard, author.

Contributor:

Laura Jan Meyerson Poetry Fund.

Language:

English

Genre:

Poetry.

Physical Description:

100 pages : portrait ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland : Salmon Poetry, 2017.

Summary:

Richard Schiffman's first full length collection of poetry, What the Dust Doesn't Know, examines our human place in a natural world, which is at once earthily familiar and stranger than we can possibly know. The author takes the reader on a provocative romp through a universe in which dogs preach theology, dragonflies are crucified, and birds offer critiques of modern life. Underlying the playful humor is a spiritual seriousness which perceives mystery and meaning lurking in experiences that are routinely undervalued. Through Schiffman's unconventional lens, pain becomes a gateway to illumination, imperfection is "heaven's backdoor," a grey day tells human beings to shine, and hope is "the present- unlearning the past, agnostic of the future- breathing, in its chains, like the sea." This is a book for those who believe that poetry should both delight and inspire its readers with a larger sense of life's meaning and possibilities. Book jacket.

Contents:

Clever Stalk 9

Flimsy Ribbon 10

What the Dust Doesn't Know 11

Bird Prophet Rising 13

Tongue's Untied 15

Unfinished 17

Swallows 18

My Theology in a Nutshell 19

Little Buddha 20

Before Language Was 21

Ease River 22

Chynna by the Sea 23

Family Tree 24

Bristlecone Pines 26

Age Marks 27

Winter's Invitation 28

Aftermath 29

Running Against the Clock 30

Far Side of the Moon 31

Mayday, Mayday 32

Heaven's Back Door 33

THEOLOGY 101 34

Hope 35

Wobble 36

Gray Scale 37

Jello Days 38

Sundry Hungers 39

Eat Your Vegetables 40

Smart Cookie 41

Moth Koan 42

Decoy 43

Shadows 44

Memorial Day Excursion 45

Herat, 1974 46

Pilgrims 47

Prayer Boats 48

Bind Faith 49

Just the Facts, Ma'am 50

A Bird Disagrees 51

Crop Circles 53

Balls 54

The Snow Itself 55

City of Tides 57

A Lesson in Stillness 58

Watching the Bird Watcher 60

Body and Soul 61

October Pond 62

Thin Ice 63

Kiku 64

Winter's Kiss 65

Skaters 66

Sermon to the Trash 67

Kiss of Death 69

Sermon to the Pooches 70

New York Marathon 71

November Rose 72

Femme Fatale 73

A Real Basket Case 74

Manahatta* Reminisces 75

Herds of Summer 76

Horned Toads 77

Aches and Pains 78

Reentry 79

Color War 80

Driftwood Religion 81

Late March 82

Sky Spun 84

Varieties of Fishes 85

A Brief History of the Night 86

Awake 87

Backwaters 88

The Clearing 89

The Dance of Leaving 90

Crows and Hawks 91

For Harriet 92

Buddies 93

Dress Rehearsal 94

After the Opera 96.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Laura Jan Meyerson Poetry Fund.

ISBN:

9781910669761

1910669768

OCLC:

983460997

Publisher Number:

99977805310