In this Book
- Weapons Grade: Poems
- Book
- 2009
- Published by: University of Arkansas Press
summary
In her poetry Terese Svoboda walks out to the edge where language is made and destroyed. Her subject is human suffering. Called “disturbing, edgy and provocative” by Book Magazine, her work is often the surreal poetry of a nightmare yet is written with such wit, verve, and passion that she can address the direst subjects. Weapons Grade is a collection of poems about the power of occupation—political and personal. They often play with sestina, sonnet, and couplets, as if only form can contain the fury of between the occupier and the occupied. There's a pervading sense of dread, of expiation, of portents—even in potato salad. There's also elegy and lullaby and seduction but, in the words of the sixties tune "Wooly Bully," the reader must "Watch it now, watch it." Highly poised, grand and intensely lyrical, the poems veer from the political to the personal, then finish on the elegiac, releasing complex and unexpected meaning with emotional precision. Looking directly into the contemporary apocalyptic, Weapons Grade, Svoboda’s fifth collection of poetry, draws readers back to the radiant present.
Table of Contents
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- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- pp. vii-viii
- PICNIC PORTENTS
- p. 3
- THE CONVOY NEVER MOVES
- pp. 4-5
- OCCUPATION
- pp. 7-8
- CODE NAME: 731
- pp. 15-17
- A LOG-LOCKED NATION
- p. 19
- SOUSA AT SEVENTEEN
- p. 20
- SLAVE CHILDREN
- p. 22
- VOLKSSTURM
- p. 25
- HAMLET HIRSUTE
- p. 26
- AN OLD WAR
- p. 27
- VERY FORGETFUL
- p. 28
- I THINK OF PILGRIMS
- p. 29
- TRAINS IN THE DARK
- p. 30
- APHRA PLAYS
- p. 37
- JEAN/JEANNE BARET
- pp. 38-41
- STEAM SEAMS
- p. 42
- RENDEZVOUS
- pp. 44-45
- TWO GROUNDHOGS
- pp. 47-48
- HURRICANE GIRL
- pp. 49-50
- ANIMAL LOVER
- p. 51
- MISS GIVINGS
- p. 55
- MOM AS FLY
- pp. 56-57
- LOVE LIGHT
- pp. 60-61
- BURNT HOUSE
- p. 63
- MY MATURE STYLE
- p. 64
- THE GIFT OF FUNNY
- p. 67
- DAD IN SUSPENDERS
- pp. 68-69
- DAD AUBADE
- p. 70
- DICK IS DEAD
- p. 72
- APPREHEND US
- pp. 73-74
- ANOTHER BROTHER
- p. 76
- HAND QUEST
- pp. 77-78
- WOOLY BULLY
- p. 81
- THREE PLUCKED LADIES
- p. 82
- SELF INTEREST
- p. 84
- THE WIDOW’S WALK
- pp. 85-86
- HALF GRAPEFRUIT
- p. 87
- MUSK AND MUSKMELON
- p. 88
- BAD NEIGHBOR
- p. 89
- THE DOG IN THE WALL
- pp. 90-91
- MIDWEST GLACIER
- pp. 92-93
- Back Cover
- p. 110
Additional Information
ISBN
9781610754538
Related ISBN(s)
9781557289063
MARC Record
OCLC
787842815
Pages
108
Launched on MUSE
2013-05-20
Language
English
Open Access
No