Black Aperture: Poems

Acknowledgments

63 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Grateful acknowledgment goes to the following journals and anthologies in which these poems, or earlier versions of them, originally appeared: Dislocate: “Tom Black”; Everyday Genius: “And God Said,”; Great Twin Cities Poetry Read, Vol. 2: “An Uncertain Prayer”; Gulf Coast: “Land O’ Lakes,” and from “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“The mystery begins like this . . .”), “X” (“Your hands were delivered with the mail . . .”), and “X” (“Kafka said, A book . . .”); H_NGM_N: “A Poem in which Leaves again Figure Prominently” and “Your Body Is A Temple Is A Body Again”; LIT: “I Am Not a Poem”; MARGIE: “After Suicide” (“At the party celebrating me . . .”), and from “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“I found a small ring . . .”) as “After Suicide” and “Burial” as “After Suicide ”; Mid-American Review: “O Cremulator”; New York Quarterly: “Field with Whales” as “This Place”; Oyez Review: “After Suicide” (“A hole is nothing . . .”) as “Dream After Suicide”; Paper Darts: “Aperture,” “The Moon,” “Seed,” and “Vacation Cage”; Passages North: “Reverse Suicide”; Poet Lore: “Trajectory” as “Bullet”; Poetry Daily: from “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“The mystery begins like this . . .”), “X” (“Your hands were delivered with the mail . . .”), and “X” (“Kafka said, A book . . .”); Poetry Midwest: “O”; Poets.org: “A Horse Grazes in My Shadow,” “Chekhov’s Gun,” “In Whoever’s Hotel Room this Is,” and from “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“Kafka said, A book . . .”) and “X” (“My foreshadow stretches . . .”); Redivider: “Monet as a Verb,” “The Orange Leaves,” and “We’re Not the Stars, We’re What’s Between Them”; Water~Stone Review: “747” as “Composed Upon a 747,” “Outgoing,” “Phone,” and from “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“Listen, the branch said . . .”), “X” (“A glass jar . . .”), “X” (“The black suit hanging . . .”), “X” (“There was a thud at the window . . .”), “X” (“My imagination erodes . . .”), and “X” (“All night, snow fell . . .”); What Light: This Week’s Poem: “After Suicide (“In the hallway of life . . .”) as “Titled.” The poems “After Suicide” (“In the hallway of life . . .”), “After Suicide” (“A hole is nothing . . .”), “Field With Whales,” “Notlove Poem for the Fence at the End of the Field,” “O,” “Reverse Suicide,” and “Trajectory” all appeared in their current or previous versions under their current or previous titles in Fingergun, a chapbook from Kitchen Press (2006). 64 “Land O’ Lakes” appeared on Minnesota Public Radio’s Writing Minnesota hosted by Annie Baxter. “Trajectory” appeared on PEN.org as part of the PEN Poetry Series. “After Suicide” (“At the party celebrating me . . .”), “Elegy in X Parts”: “X” (“I found a small ring . . .”) as “After Suicide,” “Land O’ Lakes,” “Outgoing,” and “Reverse Suicide” were all recorded for the Knox Writer’s House Recording Project (www.knoxwritershouse.com). Note: The poem “Tom Black” amalgamates several events including three tragic suicides that occurred in International Falls, MN. I offer my condolences to the families of Tom Black and Bobby Hamalainen. Special thanks to Jane Hirshfield and the Academy of American Poets for making this book a reality. Thank you also to LSU Press, particularly Neal Novak and John Easterly. This book would not be possible without the love and support of so many people. I’m sorry if I have forgotten anyone. Thank you to my parents, Allen and Gail; my wife, Jana; and daughter, Lydia; Chris Tonelli; Dan Boehl; Justin Marks; Sam Starkweather; Sarah Bartlett; Emily Frey; Elisa Gabbert; Kathy Rooney; Abby Beckel; Caryn Lazzuri; Chad Reynolds; Kate Covintree; Alexis Orgera; Ben Mirov; Chris Martin; Nate Pritts; Alyce Mannausau; Linda Faith; Darrell Schmidt; Roy Miskulin; Dick Ostroot ; David Skwarok; Jim Moore; Arthur Sze; Robert Hedin; Pete Hautman; Jerod Santek; Lisa Higgs; Michelle Pollock; Nena Johansen; Michael Morse; Charlie Conley; Matt Ryan; Matt Mauch; Phil Bryant; Joyce Sutphen; John Rezmerski; Will Freiert; Dan Tobin; Gail Mazur; John Skoyles; Bill Knott; Malachi Black; Patricia Kirkpatrick; Art Przybilla; Baker Lawley; Alex Dimitrov ; Kitchen Press; and all the members of the West Fork Literary Society. Thank you for accommodation, time, or financial support from The McKnight Foundation, The Minnesota State Arts Board, Ernest Oberholtzer’s Mallard Island, The Bush Foundation, The Corporation of Yaddo, The Loft Literary Center, The Jerome Foundation, Intermedia Arts, and The Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN. Matt Rasmussen is a fiscal year 2011 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity was made possible in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. ...