Expectation Days

Sandra McPherson is a professor of English at the University of California, Davis, and the author of numerous poetry collections, including A Visit to Civilization.

• CoverTitleCopyrightContentsIGrouseBeach Journal, May: Dune Census"Through Lace Curtains, Ravens" (Pasternak)Gospel DisinclinedI Was Young and Working by the Ship LocksOfficer and Gentleman and a Small Heroic OrderPrecipice, Rush, SheathTwo Young Trees Bending in Strong WindOn Being Transparent: Cedar Rapids AirportLucid Dreaming: OxycodoneIIContainersLiving with an UrnBereavement: Leaving the Radio on All Night for CompanyBereavement: 1919Pre-Op RoomMuses for PanicSuicidologyMourning, Ninth MonthPost-Op, Medical HumanitiesFox: A Memory of My HusbandIIICabawaguni Scarecrow, Dang Region, NepalDo-It-Yourselfer's GhazalExpectation DaysBlossom River DriveChildren of the VillageSchoolchildren, 2000 and 1848The Mexican AcrobatIVVirtue Study: "It was his first"Virtue Study: PastoralVirtue Study: Samma VacaVirtue Study: TeachingsVirtue Study: Happy HourVirtue Study: Blues SocietyVChicory at NightDiary: Day of RestTo a Book of Needles, 1918The Bat by Porch LightHibakushaPoem for a Late BirthdayHow to Read an Aerial MapOn Suicide WatchAutumn on a Small TreeSurfaces, Central Valley, 109°Back cover

"This book is a knockout. Sandra McPherson is fully aware of art's limited power to console, and the stunning poems of her new collection admit not a whiff of affection or artificial catharsis."--Poetry "In the completeness of her description—tender, shocking, hilarious—McPherson's Expectation Days leaves the stuffy woolens of inhibition locked behind closed doors, preferring to dance outdoors in a gauzy linen dress, letting the sun trace her silhouette, in all its beauty and misery."--Sacramento News & Review"McPherson . . . stands in a sort of magic circle and conjures up a world I am glad to be part of. . . . A poet among us who deserves more readers, more homage, more celebration."--Field