My Life as a Man, and: The Joy of

for "My Life as a Man": The poem borrows language from Philip Roth’s novel of the same name to explore preoccupations with “doubles” of all kinds: alter egos, mirrorings, adulterous double lives, fictive personae, romans à clef.

Abstract for “The Joy of”: The speaker buys an embroidered blouse at a secondhand store. She takes it home, washes it, and has an ecstatic dream.