New and Selected Poems, 1957-2011

Contents

TABlE OF CONTENTS An Introduction to Robert Sward by Jack Foley 15 Author’s Note 19 From Uncle Dog & Other Poems, 1962 Uncle Dog: The Poet At 9 25 The Kite 27 Dodo 28 Hello Poem 30 From Kissing The Dancer & Other Poems, 1964 Kissing The Dancer 35 Marriage 37 Chicago’s Waldheim Cemetery 38 Scenes From A Text 39 Nightgown, Wife’s Gown 40 Socrates At The Symposium (Sonnet For Two Voices) 41 All For A Day 42 From Thousand-Year-Old Fiancée & Other Poems, 1965 Movies: Left To Right 45 Thousand-Year-Old Fiancée 47 Report From The Front 49 Iowa 50 Iowa Writers’ Workshop—1958 51 Honey Bear 54 Blind Poet 56 Mr. Amnesia 58 Yaddo 61 Personal Stress Assessment 63 Post-Modern 64 From Half A Life’s History, 1983 Scarf Gobble Wallow Inventory 69 Statement Of Poetics, Or Goodbye To Myself 71 From Poet Santa Cruz, 1985 Ode To Santa Cruz 77 Castroville, California—A sonnet 79 From Four Incarnations, 1991 Four Incarnations 83 Clancy The Dog 88 Scarlet The Parrot 89 Alfa The Dog 92 Basketball’s The American Game Because It’s Hysterical 94 On My Way To The Korean War 96 1950s / 1960s 99 Ode to Torpor 104 Sausalito Ferry Poem 105 For Gloria On Her 60th Birthday, or 106 Hannah 108 Portrait Of An L.A. Daughter 109 Water Breather 112 Fashion Makes The Heart Grow Fonder 120 My Muse 123 One For The Road 125 Turning 60 126 From God Is In the Cracks, 2006 Son of the Commandment 131 A Prayer for My Mother 133 Rosicrucian in the Basement 144 Heavenly Sex 150 Wedding #2 152 New Poems Good News From The Other World One-Stop Foot Shop 159 He Takes Me Back as a Patient 161 Good News from the Other World 162 Arch Supports—The Fitting 164 God is in the Cracks 166 New Poems A Man Needs A Place To Stand A Man Needs a Place to Stand 171 Life is its Own Afterlife 172 From Beyond the Grave, the Podiatrist Counsels His Son on Prayer 174 This is a Father 176 Online with The “Urban Dictionary” 177 The Astronomer, A Universe for Beginners 179 The World According to Shelby 181 In a World of No 183 Laika, Dog Astronaut 185 Inter-Species Healing, A Specialty 186 Gimme Your Paw 188 Companion Animals 190 Dr. Sward’s Cure for Melancholia 193 A Face To Sadden God 195 In Heaven, Too, There Are Jews 197 The World Is Broken 198 Surviving Death 199 Soul Retrieval 200 Appendix 201 This page intentionally left blank. ...