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as tho,ugl, ,t'hq went lawQ~ ~etl~r$ go,;,(;""11,,i,,,tentJil,,g to be a b« ,.<L, ,~.~:, ,"fr~'f; d,,'~~L,. '"m~,";~mn~ I"RU.,. m"\;:"'~'~f":A,* t:I;,,,, c ::':b I~f"~~ l' ~.~~' S~;J, u,c~ UJ ~;~'P~ ... r,f(" so ..~ .. ~,~ l!l.\P~l ~~,., mvu... 0, '+b,~ ,..~, :roa:d~t'he red (Jus" ,'"0 fine eh'€ :wi"d' /ifts ,it li'k:,e ,a' 8CQ'r{, Qu'd' J wa/It.: down totoard the bouse; pas,t' w'h,(l,t,were th'e fields to/JQcc:;o~"be ,shrunk,en ,pa5tl1''','e'" O"',te: a:f the CUti,',il bams stll:" staH'd$" ,s,truggli',lg ,Q:gaitt~$,t,PQ~'s'OI~' iV)!t sap,li:',lgs;I wisteria, .bu,~' tbat b,t,sist;sJJ' ,p',NIl' Ul'.HO',t' u",,,do the tlmell' of uoodsmoke aruJ' old' beat. The o\utb''J:ildi,lgs are ,/iUea w,i~'th th,e' rested det",i't'U:s' o{ tl'1e :wo:r:k:: lo:g-c/~'ai'f'$':tslides,;, p,low,'s'hares, saws. iJfI.:d shears, the barnes« tba,t'
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How' m any gen erations removed that tam ifl,g:? The-re 'was, one ca r, more distant than '[he others, white as memorywas gray, Isaw it, stark aga inst the ha )flo-.f't window, and agai n at the' spri n,S, dri nking itself Sometimes it hunted the' fie~d'~s d.. j ust inside the: Unit.. Perhaps it heard e ge, , her in some inborn dream that kepr it here, wi thin the boundaries of' her voice-e-for that back fence 'W3S,QS far as it carried, I know, I had stood at [be: edge of theat same descenr-« deaf to [the' wi nd w:irh listen ing, "V~l)te~ remain, se when .it was so e;aJ.sy to s,~,ep'between the' barbed strands that def ned. US\~Iand be' gone ~

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Th i h. d ,U~ !,-',r"': sa d befo re ram that 'I!..,pp~ hap li'l!ii"i'Ueo IU":', -,: 'l .,~,II; !J';h•.'~~:,,~, -' -,-I._I~ ,aJ,g ,mi.st~d:l ~,~:knd wi,nd [ess, SlOiW' to :t:all~ a
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caught f'og ,aJ,nd'hound it; [he webs, sagged, white and wet, The second da:y" t11 e creek argued with the rain ,gr~w bolder before
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.osi ng ji tse lf, overcomi ng the banks

that had defined it,!, Its current cut" the water grew sd U~inren t on rlsing, Th is changed eve ryt''h ing.. , The [hi rd da y~skeletal corn ..ba 11< 'was 1.0:S:f., The trees waded :i n, waist ... .. deep; Bo unda ries drowned-a-the 'wire' dea,d ~ I had moved the cows to higher grou.nd~, and, puzzled,
t:he'Y'ooked down on that placid Other l that was not lake or pond" T']-]9 rain ab ated midda y~and I: knew [he next morning
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I W'O uld see the field rea ppear as if rising. I would se't the Ienceline discovered, and, more, some ancestral bone, w bite now
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Bu t ~ ong

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STILL'BIR.'TH
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I had watched

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carri ed in her above the field, knowi ng

nothing o.f the field though the grasses


br ushed her belly; sighed dl ere';. the/y' were
l

tha [ close ~ could clese my eyes :and open rh e m a g" r" :'··gll~' n th lA"t 'W' rt-e iIr'y ··~'.~·.:gl~~,lIL ," all I wa s supposed to. have forgotten I could hear beyond the muscled wall
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to

the other's blood and voice, the lungs' relief,

the dead t'hunder of going, to her knees, ,Aud, it ~waYrS the ringing be,I~,consranr, as, though from some room above, cal~ing '£'0 me ~'But the wall swaddled me doorless, ,3 nd ,I~too, bac:lbed farther i0to 'the other's body, a w,a:y from the hand that 'would revive and name me=-dcepcr inro the' house' where no one' can sta:y"

21
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.'. ", jl-, '.'" H' .ous~Ke:epwn.g", 1"·""' -M',e.ay "1" '9'.-,'-"114"-muggy· al,tel: ," .~: _'" '.", ,-

I'

The bees, laced thick :in t':be buckeye, went on with their damp drone; the hummingbirds still nerved 'iII..," '. ~ d t 'L., IS me japomca, iO l"eso~'V,e:~.L:~ mist,
iii iii

Uke lh:f ba'by 's sleep, could not last, 1'went against if, dra,gg:ed out the parlor rug, as di,fficult" heavy, as the body of a grown man .. There was so much to do", i beat: the rhing with the handle of a bead i"ess; axe, the. :!f--;~~k:'.J . ';r~nsm10"' orh as cr eekstone sm :·o."'rh-·> "' W~~l_ ~·IIII~ korv .. '. -. rhe career's ,F"O',i:'~',~v__ 3F ~'~;,",k" a(n'd'"id 'Ur-I~1t: rose from raised 'p,i nk like' welts on the backs of my brothers; d ust thick enough, I imagined ,h)f'another
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genesis, another man '~O cast into 'that ancient sJ1eep',;: from, him, rd. steal a, rib and make myself again Satisfied, nO' " u,[~~,.· ~ I r"l;Qle'~e")l1 sa 'w' ',' f'"vb h ~ a"lod' th 'II ~ "l"'y: ,r'iIi"-a;e'II",. :.ILl, "1~"
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"L;[~,.: ~,Iii fIi.r.'!Ii.."~'

in a daydream of itsel f, and even as [he sun 'burned through its back 'to ~ ull
idle water, tile rain came and 'woke' it,

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',B>A:.··::···T:· H' 'I ~'Nf"··'.:. '~GI~ M·····.:"O·-TH'··~.E----'R' ••·l " l', , Jill .~ "
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"TIlle' cough carne and never lefr, became

thing unto itse] f, possessed her throat, bet lungs, the ''\lV',a:y' ,3, whippoorwill consumes ·3. tree with its: convulsive call, willful, grief-fed, :Nothing ca lmed it, and the season did not make it any easier: 'rh e fields stea med, tobacco sown im h U 01 id
,3.

stitche-s; pollen hung thick a is, s.. moke, s;w·olle.n :o'-··-·n· the i·ea,~~--'~·e·"''Uv m''':''I~~ II.~" r-colo ··Iii'\·e·d:· :_. ,.1.
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as they weaved into the sickroom -and out a p:g ~0-:- .. ':itI s th ·0": ~Y·.DI:~ .d;·· u~n Ikt~ on th e .Ifert ~ w or ~.'d~ r .. le ,.rn".- ~ ~:~ .. I;, . 1. ., b ,. ~ . rus nngn t con tagson, t
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f,;r;..!I~lldi--1 ",

her be.aJudful,. and kept her so, combing her hair away' from her dam .. brow as, the ho use p below cO.mp lained, grumbled, an e.mp·ty b-elly
I let ,go w·.i rhout ~I sang to' her; :1rea d;

.1bathed the mother of us al], m'f hands dark s;w'aJlows :Ayin,g. close over the S urface of a. pond=-whose depths ell urned, uniraagina b,~,e~·
'f:"~ m a lI:,·v r-I",.c· _

ke .1'·" ~i'~ ~I]. y,,,[lC' t~ it W',ojl ;;'ij' ;ill!I;,iIIW" ';, .~ I


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1':-: T' . .::,':,'.',,'. '. "." . B"A- -I·T'·(-N""·G·..· 'T--~H~'E. .' 'R"AF. ..'.
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Thi s was, 'Nale "s, ~azy Hvimg,~His guiJe m.rii,e:r

'!ba,n theirs, 'fller fell :feu;'e,as,y meat ~n rhe :ya\vn .o:f· tense, mc:taUic j;a,"\tvs~, walk·ed ,h,a t :~ I ioe o·nl:y· once wi.. him; that was enough tb
'En see what struggled in the ·rra.p;. E!'D.ou;gb to 'w3:tch Nate :st;[uldon the pelt to save i·t

from. blemish, I. fe·.!:t tba,t GfFO\'1U.O,g ,tbrou,gh the sole~s o:f'my' boots, Ifelt my' own bones hum, And fo',r' what, I asked, and be said, ,nA woma .. tired desire n's ro swaddle be'rself' in sO'En'ethiog sOft· ;Bud w\Ud,~ ~ ~1!i·M.T~:n,h,~-;a:s :11..0 ,~.,d-'·v:a.n:taD"lP' O·'.''1'#1!i[.·the u .... beasts, 'iii I d":"" be wrenched open 1:11,3,[' jaw, disputed me, h o 'n: 'a' b '0: ,3,[\·· , ,n, .,IU, h er llrllll~1~,r - rd and :~"ii'iiI'n" [~l'~!n he reversed [ T--IIk~,-.,--,.1le _'~ skin showed white exposing 11:0 secret a,fter' .au.~:a.l.fea.dy' something unto i~se1fil. ... I, h d' dd cieansec d against W h 'iay'll.'Q'W· .•1.0 er if! '_ u:S'£a.o.-.l drew ;'13.'[ fat, black :fU,es,,,. '~':FOfthe fate o,f rhe sons, 0:1' men a nd '[he' fate of beasts is the same ~ A nd be answered. " -.~~ ... ... ]. ---..
= _ ~_ __ _ _ _
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This: is. the' onl y resu flection ~ ~

He could. not fI.ig:bllen .me' ·then b,C:t',i).'tJseI believed be was 10511:." 1:waited past the ,:a.m.me·Jr.inl d usk;
.

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A'~'round .rne "JI. .~',

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he,a,vy sloes hung, cloned. Thei r 'bitter'


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..L;j;i;. . ' -. _ 'W' Q~~'[ ,~." .-,I[I:ClJ,l·' ._ :. ',.~ ~,~v··.,I:., 1- atehed ,UJ;~ w-;'l'l"iIid:-1~~V1e-'·d~-1.w-· '-i:'~liIAW-' -: braid unb Ii!"'~~d' lOll"gi ng for an adrnirer, a looking glass, I ran m)~tongue in Q'D.'et~weethull, in th1e bruised, imm anent 'I.. 'v~:i,d·.1-' could_I ~O·'·"tl. ~'W" ·.~I.~lo·.:\V'-, 1 a.,_~. uw. ~"W __'" I , suoeer tab 'JJi wou-md'-' O'~ :tu,~,~,o'~~~: -_ ,~,'l":t' ,~,I_ 'i~~~r~' :~ ':-:f\t~~··~I~g. ·::ll'~' ·:·.::_:~,I:··:~ ~ lIi!"dl ~ at Ii"'h,I.~,.. _ ·
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with himn" but: not before I saw a star

falling bum past irs sudden unbecoming .......... · its fa:st·, evanescent scar-s-to what stays,

38

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: I'

klu:w whar nothing there: was to' fear:: My' heart

:5'[o.'"nOO, 'W,O lkdd not 'mean J: was zone. :farth:cf' ,,!t",r" -.~. - ~- ..~ - ~'u-~-~--..

than t:h.at:wracked pilot of' graves, :1knew it: was: Nate, bored soul ~who ,C!:WI'lnp' the ..aate 'm'" 'n~ain;:np Theile .'u-I, '_.' ·_.v u,~~~ ~ _.~ was no grain '[0 cleave, ,An.untended spring belled back.. ':'~!I'~, ~!L~~'I. MHI'~mIO",~;jt,'L.,'lI:rf~\"I'~: 'v:r,~:~'1 ' itself J." a' ~Jli . ""=-,,,~.Il~. .~ ,1:1 't! ~,,~I ~' m-y,;c'f:oJ1I'C"i~ caved U' lneo",~ :h',g,U :.:!i, dream : once '.'f~~""', h.", :,·,· llJu~,,~,_e, ~y _S~S .._' ,0, ~ea,vl,ng, b 'I'" Ul, 1t, te ,f08:d""1 burn 'd~1M" 16)''£' ,dlt ~~ '.~:_-.".~l'd~",- ed I ~~,,~""-. ,~,~ 'I.",,,,,"_,~ '~-,-"~ _, ," ld sleep smoroeree ~.. K,IleW .. 'I S,iCP" ana waUL sleen men
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.here was I""', ~ __ . ~

'I~d ded ,A.s., escenc ec


it, a strand of abandoned 'web drifted, from the s:a,gged rungs of t'he ladder at whose feet' ,I saw '~:~, ~tr!i",?'y-",~'bones ~f: :~I. h'O:~UI. LJI ~~ -",... fir..tle ~ u u. .' _ drawn to this ;1:5 t'o 'w,3J:t,e'r~.r,ea.min again
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'Fill.,., ......... .tlili

I.

th.e dust our common restlessness.

42
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book ,of bo:q.ds,~ 'both. t.h,()se 't'ha'~ ~rsst.r'll~nan rhose '[chat join, The poems create anim:pmrucit world of rituals] births, wakes, burials, and the ceremonies 0'£ to,. Pil't>icf" is a

baeco farming in, r',be 1:920s, narrative of lament', leading &om threshold to threshQ,id-,~lpea kin: _:':&o'.m both the p,a:st and , uture '. C~a,udiaEmerson i·..one 'Oli'tt.l€' me se ex i.tmg n.ew' talen ts in contempora ry :p oetrJ~,--,
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rson is an el~~~n't sr:O,t\1'IU~U~,r'.11.0 rakes 'US 'w,b.oU~into thf!'!i dlfficw,t·, CUm" ,:~'~ ,I ; r :Uog; illlve8,~An ele·gy'to f~Ul1nY', bea.utifui~y told" Pi,7:,[O'tl; shiaes with empathy 8Jj,ilien ...
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'[icity~and 'wifSidlom~~'·=SUA ....•. L'UDVlGS

....

C t'auJi'a E 'ii'ffrSOl'fi '~"rJ~'plD'Ys' VO ices of if.Wa 'itl1fl il.,1 th« ,we"JilJl!Jers 1011 Q, S-J.}:laU ~ou,the1rt !€tnJiJ to ,6XQ'J.iJ~lin(1 thtt un.iversal c.oJ'lpiexities of place J ,re-},u:ratf'Or,I,"" 11J'eH~latJ~, ,and i;ilf!Mti~)~, .AI:te",ati1:~g·hetfillee1"lr ,the voices of ,Pr,eo,'cher anti 11r"/t"''''"_ 1O\~',iii'fi' nn ;;;:. i rrated u~; I..,a J'UH"I!"I~~l~ L,Ji ,.;, ''If;R'U 'k'l,U-' """''''Ii'!'~;' ~'~'i:I',a'sister: 1!l' n '''e :0'_'11 'W' ~;_'nra",_ .tM'I.4In"AI ,iJi"~i!i!~[;oil'.!II' ,lr.Il"'III_~', . ,I'i., il!T),jg ~'"iI! .;a,I..lo ' ' iI'~, .l\,U'.i!j. '" ' ' II) "rJ'y~~ "" ....... J
In fb is, e'il:otJue:n~' lo.,~g· oem, p
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"In bet ,ca,te:ful'ly unfo.ldling chronicle of claustrophobic rural ,~:felEm.erson has re..· awakened the verna cuJar of .ba.rd times and yea rn:in,g.~She has coni ured an ,e:xquis ite
'~,a e nlt hO'mL 'E be' · _fiQ UBh'l':and :fru.low ,BJ'o,und: m
0'£

a :ia mil y £a rm a ad .rem indted

ILlS

of

the d'mabitity and s,p,[endar' o.ftne human he'art.,~j~R., 'T~SMI.TH

'-Mo'.[le'W',ru:f,cncrn'ft tb.an C{H]J~ven:ti.onaj narrative, ,Pi,.dou is I, marvel, an enchantment,


Deep suffering and
:Q,

ha rs~ love define the' geneeations ca.L~gh:r:in this iron nee - and

E~merson''s,rivetimg sequence-s-at once 'terrifying and bea~tif'ul~i'. .lIJ.Ulg., ,_.,=,U.u. "iii. A- 'DC' .•. ' C' 'K' D'UT1~V .~.,.' "0'- •...• 's[JQ,rym7e .[m·· . .
1m' C I[. - U.DWA~MiI!IUUlN • I'

a triumph of lyric

A '" ~b d ,:-_rr~n;gt'Hll D ~ "- ~U[;S,.-,C·', .",I.trUl


I

c~," ,o.l,coet[~t at P u;IU.1l'


Iil:

ID",_ '" ~ :Ii: 'l':p,e U nlv,el'rusty 0:[

.M.I.ry Vt shingron in Fredericksburg


books
P~JQ:r.ll o,hj,
'.

V," ·gioia. Sh is the' author of the poetry


,PO~11S'j

P'rlle
i,

Ul

'in

,'- He.II~oetry.,'H' poems h3V' .appearee d ~ P oe·,tryj' S , .I'.'f:r . U'1, ,······ou,tnern .:,eVl~ •

P,ba:r:~I~,hl; n d IA,te 'Wife:,' a

w:h ich recieved the ,2,006 Pulitzer


f'! ,''J ,~~ ,iJ;:nf,'UJ,;z,tJ;,oa'n""

Tri-Q'~tar,te,~,~~-, NeUl E~:gl~nd' ,R,l:uie,~ and ether journal

~ She i'" the reclpient of' a

W~tt:ef' By:n:Il'_[' FeUorwshjp 'f~o'm. he I ib:n-ary of 'Congress, and. 'fe~~'owbips fronl'the t National Endowment 'for the Arts and '[he''Virgmia Commission for the Arts. Soudr.,,..fJ
,I

,M~~u!~t'
AIM'

D,AV,ES~nTHj'

Louisia 'UI st te IUnive,rs,;!]1 Pres: b,at(n~' rouge 70,80"


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rna rial

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