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Marie Howe’s Followers (302)
Marie Howe
Born
in Rochester, New York, The United States
January 01, 1950
Website
Genre
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What the Living Do: Poems
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published
1997
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9 editions
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The Kingdom of Ordinary Time: Poems
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published
2008
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7 editions
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Magdalene: Poems
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published
2017
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4 editions
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The Good Thief
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published
1988
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6 editions
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American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time
by
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published
2018
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3 editions
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New and Selected Poems
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published
2024
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5 editions
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In the Company of My Solitude: American Writing from the AIDS Pandemic
by |
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Ploughshares Winter 1992-93 : Voices From the Other Room
by
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published
1992
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What the Earth Seemed to Say
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What the Living Do
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“Every poem holds the unspeakable inside it. The unsayable... The thing that you can't really say because it's too complicated. It's too complex for us. Every poem has that silence deep in the center of it.”
―
―
“WHAT THE LIVING DO
Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up
waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep, headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through
the open living-room windows because the heat's on too high in here and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street, the bag breaking,
I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,
I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.
What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss--we want more and more and then more of it.
But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living. I remember you. ”
― What the Living Do: Poems
Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up
waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep, headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through
the open living-room windows because the heat's on too high in here and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street, the bag breaking,
I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,
I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.
What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss--we want more and more and then more of it.
But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living. I remember you. ”
― What the Living Do: Poems
Topics Mentioning This Author
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century Lite...: PEN /Literary Awards | 7 | 124 | Jun 15, 2015 05:01AM | |
The Seasonal Read...:
Summer Challenge 2015: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS)
|
3424 | 684 | Sep 01, 2015 07:40PM | |
| The Book Club: 2015 Book Prizes | 23 | 96 | Oct 08, 2015 04:15PM | |
|
Aussie Readers:
*
What Are You Currently Reading? (doesn't have to be an Aussie book)
|
15617 | 2523 | Mar 07, 2016 06:26PM | |
|
Nothing But Readi...:
~ Antonym Challenge ~
|
256 | 4011 | Jan 08, 2017 06:33AM | |
| Literary Fiction ...: National Book Awards Longlist Poetry 2017 | 5 | 40 | Sep 13, 2017 04:10PM | |
| Nothing But Readi...: Summer: Camp Gottaread | 278 | 1336 | Sep 25, 2021 10:48AM | |
| The Mookse and th...: * National Book Awards | 698 | 533 | Nov 22, 2024 02:08AM | |
| Catching up on Cl...: June 2025 Reading Plan | 10 | 36 | Jun 03, 2025 10:19AM |
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