In this Book
- Theater of Memory: New and Selected Poems
- Book
- 2012
- Published by: Louisiana State University Press
Winner of the L. E. Phillabaum Poetry Award
Gifted with a unique and elemental style that goes to the heart of things, often with Zenlike simplicity, Mark Perlberg published four books of poetry over the course of his long and accomplished life. At the time of his death in 2008 he was in the process of putting together Theater of Memory, a collection of his best poems, both published and unpublished, which he saw as the summation of his life's work. His wife, Anna Nessy Perlberg, completed the manuscript and contributed an afterword to the collection.
Moving and unpretentious, the poems range from verses about the poet's childhood, including the early death of his father, to pieces in conversation with Chinese poet T'ao Ch'ien, to poignant poems about his grandson. A slowly deflating helium balloon becomes a meditation on aging and the urgency to teach his grandson "to remember in perilous / times to keep something of himself for himself."
Table of Contents
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. 2-5
- from The Burning Field (1970)
- How the Summers Were
- pp. 3-5
- The Indian Graveyard
- pp. 6-15
- Buying Fish in Portland
- pp. 7-16
- Dawn over Jewell Island
- pp. 8-17
- Fred and Sadie Are Gone
- pp. 10-19
- The Burning Field
- pp. 11-13
- For a Dead Lady
- pp. 16-17
- Theology Lesson
- pp. 19-28
- To Katherine Eve
- pp. 21-30
- The Moon Viewer
- pp. 22-31
- Of Weightlessness
- pp. 23-32
- The House Tree
- pp. 24-33
- from The Feel of the Sun (1981)
- Baking Out
- pp. 29-30
- Early One Morning
- pp. 31-40
- There Are Afternoons in Summer
- pp. 32-41
- Water and Light, Light and Water
- pp. 33-42
- Bright Day on Lane Island
- pp. 34-43
- In Praise of Lichen
- pp. 35-44
- From Another Country
- pp. 36-45
- Poet to Poet
- pp. 39-48
- Lonesomest Sound
- pp. 40-49
- The Garden
- pp. 41-42
- The Bewitched Mill
- pp. 43-52
- The Master
- pp. 46-55
- Reflection
- pp. 50-59
- When at Night
- pp. 51-52
- A Night Too Hot to Sleep
- pp. 55-64
- The Revenant
- pp. 56-65
- from The Impossible Toystore (2000)
- In the Theater of Memory
- pp. 59-60
- Up in Maine
- pp. 61-70
- Bloodlines
- pp. 63-72
- Toward the Solstice
- pp. 64-73
- The Second Life of Christmas Trees
- pp. 65-74
- Garden Vision
- pp. 67-76
- The Floating World
- pp. 68-69
- Love Letters
- pp. 70-79
- Half a World
- pp. 71-80
- Your Winter Coat
- pp. 72-81
- At a Holocaust Museum, Prague
- pp. 74-83
- Nightsweat
- pp. 76-85
- Self-Portrait: Camille Pissarro
- pp. 77-86
- The Passion of Vermeer
- pp. 79-88
- The End of the Holidays
- pp. 80-89
- From the Deep Kitchen
- pp. 81-90
- The Connubial Wrens
- pp. 82-91
- Maybe It Will Stir
- pp. 83-92
- The Thought Garden
- pp. 85-94
- Return to the Island
- pp. 86-95
- from Waiting for the Alchemist (2009)
- Silence at 5 A.M.
- pp. 89-98
- Orchids and Eagles
- pp. 90-99
- Waiting for the Alchemist
- pp. 91-100
- The Box of Clouds
- pp. 92-101
- Once in a While
- pp. 95-104
- The Old Man in the Green House
- pp. 96-105
- The Dowser
- pp. 97-106
- In the Barbershop
- pp. 98-107
- At George Trambas’ Body Shop
- pp. 99-108
- The Island Gift Shop
- pp. 100-109
- The Reading
- pp. 101-110
- Your Dream, My Dream
- pp. 103-112
- Song of the Platelets
- pp. 105-107
- A Late Birthday
- pp. 108-117
- A Question for Eugène Atget
- pp. 110-119
- In Memory of My Brother
- pp. 111-120
- The Island without Tourists
- pp. 112-121
- Against Cosmology
- pp. 113-122
- In My Next Life
- pp. 114-123
- The Revelation
- pp. 115-124
- The Kitchen Bird
- pp. 116-125
- New Poems
- The Mysteries of Hannah and Ivar
- pp. 119-121
- Poor Willy
- pp. 122-131
- For Jack and Natalie
- pp. 123-132
- Fresh Linen
- pp. 124-133
- Alexander’s Castle
- pp. 125-134
- An Afternoon with Bill Stafford
- pp. 127-136
- The Hidden Pool
- pp. 128-137
- A Late Watercolor by Cézanne
- pp. 130-139
- At the Basil Leaf Café
- pp. 131-132