In this Book
- Bringing the Shovel Down
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
- Series: Pitt Poetry Series
Buy This Book in Print
Bringing the Shovel Down is a re-imagination of the violent mythologies of state and power.
"These poems speak out of a global consciousness as well as an individual wisdom that is bright with pity, terror, and rage, and which asks the reader to realize that she is not alone--that the grief he carries is not just his own. Gay is a poet of conscience, who echoes Tomas Transtromer's 'We do not surrender. But want peace.'"
--Jean Valentine
"Ross Gay is some kind of brilliant latter-day troubadour whose poetry is shaped not only by yearning but also play and scrutiny, melancholy and intensity. I might be shocked by the bold, persistent love throughout Bringing the Shovel Down if I wasn’t so wooed and transformed by it."
--Terrance Hayes
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Bringing the Shovel Down
- pp. 7-9
- American Dreaming
- p. 11
- The Lion and the Gazelle
- pp. 17-19
- Prayer for My Unborn Niece or Nephew
- pp. 23-25
- Solidarity
- p. 27
- Praising the Snake
- p. 34
- Ode to the Beekeeper
- p. 43
- Ode to the Redbud
- p. 45
- Opera Singer
- pp. 47-48
- Learning to Speak
- pp. 50-51
- Notes and Acknowledgments
- pp. 63-64
Additional Information
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