In this Book

Wild Honey, Tough Salt
summary
Wild Honey, Tough Salt offers a prismatic view of Earth citizenship, where we must now be ambidextrous. The book takes a stern look inward calling for sturdy character and supple spirit, and a bold look outward seeking ways to engage grief trouble. The book begins with poems that witness a buoyant life in a difficult world: wandering New Orleans in a trance, savoring the life of artist Tove Jansson, reading the fine print on the Mexican peso and the Scottish five-pound note. Clues to untapped energy lie everywhere by the lens of poetry. The book then moves to considerations of the worst in us—torture and war: how to recruit a child soldier? How to be married to the heartless guard? What to say to your child who is enamored by bullets? In the third section, the book offers a spangle of poems blessing earth: wren song, bud growth, river’s eager way with obstacles. And the final section offers poems of affection: infant clarities of home, long marriage in dog years, a consoling campfire in the yard when all seems lost. The book will soften your trouble, and give you spirit for the days ahead.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. 01_Halftitle
  2. p. i
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  1. Title Page
  2. p. ii
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  1. Copyright page
  2. p. iii
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. iv-v
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vi-ix
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  1. PART 1. Economy of Miracles
  1. How to Sleep Cold in North County
  2. p. 13
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  1. The Secret
  2. p. 14
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  1. Benign Indignities
  2. p. 15
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  1. My Iron Catastrophe
  2. p. 16
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  1. Love Money
  2. p. 17
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  1. Tove Jansson’s Island
  2. pp. 18-19
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  1. What Civilization Costs
  2. p. 20
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  1. Willa Cather’s Ride
  2. p. 21
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  1. Prairie Prescription
  2. p. 22
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  1. Nado: the Good Guardian at Ogyen Choling in Bhutan
  2. p. 23
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  1. Notes from the Storm at Billy Meadow
  2. p. 24
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  1. Once in the Back Country
  2. p. 25
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  1. Weaving Kin
  2. pp. 26-27
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  1. Mediation
  2. p. 28
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  1. My Critics Have Erred
  2. p. 29
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  1. Wild Honey, Tough Salt
  2. p. 30
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  1. It Seemed Like an Ordinary Day until I Had Coffee with Jesus at the Café du Monde
  2. pp. 31-33
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  1. The Right to Be Forgotten
  2. p. 34
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  1. Great Old Man
  2. pp. 35-36
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  1. PART 2. The Torturer's Wife
  1. Allegiance
  2. p. 39
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  1. Peace Warrior
  2. p. 40
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  1. The Torturer’s Wife
  2. p. 41
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  1. Champion the Enemy’s Need
  2. p. 42
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  1. How They Recruit Child Soldiers
  2. p. 43
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  1. Citizen of Dark Times
  2. p. 44
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  1. Who Knows about War?
  2. p. 45
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  1. Benazir
  2. pp. 46-47
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  1. Torture Test
  2. p. 48
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  1. Suicide Bomber, Algiers
  2. p. 49
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  1. Pictish Stones
  2. p. 50
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  1. A Prayer by the Tigris
  2. p. 51
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  1. Green Zone, Green Earth
  2. pp. 52-53
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  1. Elementary Lesson
  2. p. 54
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  1. Mrs. Smith, 1959
  2. p. 55
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  1. Night Flower Market Along the Water
  2. pp. 56-57
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  1. Escalation of the Possible
  2. p. 58
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  1. We Ask the Iraqi Artists What It Is Like to Be Creators Where Civilization Began
  2. p. 59
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  1. Nadezhda
  2. p. 60
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  1. Proclamation for Peace
  2. p. 61
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  1. Beside the Road While Our Nation Is at War
  2. p. 62
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  1. At the Indian Cemetery on the Oregon Coast
  2. pp. 63-64
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  1. PART 3. Lost Leaves of Earth
  1. A Few Treasured Steps at Glensallagh
  2. p. 67
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  1. Abe & I
  2. pp. 68-69
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  1. In My Name
  2. pp. 70-71
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  1. Earth Verse
  2. p. 72
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  1. A Buddhist in Cattle Country
  2. p. 73
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  1. Walking in an Old Forest with Our Young Son on My Back, I See the Fates of My Friends in Every Tree
  2. p. 74
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  1. Calligraphy of Sticks
  2. p. 75
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  1. At the Meriwether Lewis Grave on the Natchez Trace in Tennessee
  2. pp. 76-77
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  1. Listening in the Mountains North from Santa Cruz
  2. p. 78
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  1. The Bardo at a Crack in the World
  2. p. 79
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  1. Roe Deer
  2. p. 80
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  1. Crow & Thistle
  2. p. 81
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  1. Palouse
  2. p. 82
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  1. Trail Register at Cascade Head
  2. p. 83
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  1. Last Wish
  2. p. 84
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  1. Smoke
  2. p. 85
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  1. Lucky 4 a.m.
  2. p. 86
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  1. Ruby Takes a Stone
  2. pp. 87-88
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  1. PART 4. Marriage in Dog Years
  1. The Berry Fields, 1959
  2. p. 91
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  1. Wilma’s Wanderings
  2. p. 92
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  1. A List of Wonders from the Time of Small
  2. p. 93
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  1. Before I Could Be Human
  2. p. 94
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  1. Why I Was Medieval as a Child
  2. p. 95
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  1. When Writing Became Easy
  2. p. 96
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  1. At Home
  2. p. 97
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  1. Late Night Love Letter, New Orleans
  2. pp. 98-99
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  1. Marriage in Dog Years
  2. p. 100
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  1. August, 1997
  2. p. 101
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  1. Our Son at One Year Old
  2. p. 102
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  1. Milk
  2. p. 103
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  1. Every So Once in a While
  2. p. 104
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  1. Home Alchemy
  2. p. 105
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  1. Aunt Mar Changes How We See
  2. p. 106
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  1. Ten Years After the Last Words
  2. p. 107
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  1. Kindling
  2. p. 108
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  1. In a Trance I Figure It All Out
  2. p. 109
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  1. In the Children
  2. pp. 110-111
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  1. About The Author
  2. p. 112
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