"One of the few poets whose work remains accessible to both scholars of poetry and the casual reader...Her finely wrought free-form verse reads as easily as prose despite its dense, lush imagery."--The Harvard Review "Working in free verse, Murray is a master of the single unforgettable detail. Her accessible image-driven narratives harness the urgency of their moral or social context while staying true to the pacing and music of daily life."--The Poetry Foundation (publisher of Poetry magazine) Swimming for the Ark demonstrates why Joan Murray is praised as one of the leading narrative poets of our time. This career-defining book offers twenty-two new poems along with generous selections from her earlier books: The Same Water (winner of the Wesleyan New Poets Series), Looking for the Parade (winner of the National Poetry Series Open Competition), Queen of the Mist (the Niagara narrative which won her a Broadway commission), and Dancing on the Edge. This highly engaging book vividly dramatizes an urban youth and a rural life, along with deeper concerns about history, art, and injustice.From "Doorway": Of course we said we'd help you-- the cops were after you, you said, and we were rebel girls, weren't we? the four of us fifteen, the same age you said you were, when we crammed together in the doorway of a gated store, the windows full of knives, vibrators, transistor radios. I was the only one who understood: Lemony blond, sweet-voiced for a boy, you hid behind our Tangee lipstick, our teased-up hair-dos, the wispy-angora sweaters I can see in the photo-booth photos I still have here ...Joan Murray is the author of four prize-winning collections (from W. W. Norton, Wesleyan, and Beacon Press). She has been a repeat guest on NPR's Morning Edition and is editor of the Poems to Live By anthologies and The Pushcart Book of Poetry.
Joan Murray: Joan Murray is a poet, writer, and playwright, whose books include: Looking for the Parade (W. W. Norton), Dancing on the Edge and Queen of the Mist (both from Beacon Press), and The Same Water (Wesleyan University Press).
CONTENTS(I)NEW POEMS [p. 8]9 Family Dollar 10What Was Expected 12The Copier 13 The Gypsy Child 15The Ivory Billed One 16Looking at the Birds 18Max and Rose 19 The Witch’s Daughter20Just Taste Them21 The Gardener’s Wife 22Swimming for the Ark 25Doorway 27 The Well29White Bridge Road 30Lifeline 32The Trees34 Wracked Blue Suitcase36Funnel37Tomma and Sammy 38Rear View Mirror 40Deer in the Apples 41Forsythia (II)THE SAME WATER (1990) [page 43]44 from Coming of Age on the Harlem48 from The Unmolested Child54 The Precarious Nest58 The Grotte des Infants64 Larkspur65 The Same Water68 My Father’s Last Words During the Breeders’ Cup(III)QUEEN OF THE MIST (1999) [page 70]71 Initiation72 The Phenomenon73 Doing Cartwheels75 A Woman’s Options77 Fiat!79“She’s Coming!”81 Descent83Return84 Debriefing86 Visio Beatifica88 The Window90 Crawl on All Fours91 Solo Flight93 Immutability Canto95 Last Days(IV)LOOKING FOR THE PARADE (1999) [page 97]98Her Head99Taking the Count101Sonny’s Hands104Play by Play106Possession108The Black Dog: On Being a Poet109What to Do with an Inchworm111 Breath113 from Autumn in Eden115 The Good “Bad Kids”117 Peterborough Pet Store120 20th Century Creativity122 from Looking for the Parade(V)DANCING ON THE EDGE (2002) [page 128]129The Fence131Eternity133Now We Know136 Master of the Situation138For Anonymous139Toby’s Body141What Makes Us Happy(continues)143The Division of Labor144Being Light146The Mine148 The Hunt149Where It’s Taking Us152Jumpers154Dancing on the Edge157Song Overheard in a Field
