ALARMING BEAUTY OF THE SKY, THE

Contents

Contents I Travel Plans 13 The Natural World 14 Still Life with Insects 15 Sightseers 16 The Ocean May Have Been the Last Thing She Saw 17 Illusion of Loss 18 My Old Man, Picking Lemons 19 The Suddenness of the Past 20 Augury 21 Returning Home 22 Middle Age 23 II The Snail in the Marigold 27 Desert Prayer 28 The Peach Tree 29 Calla Lilies 30 Rainy Eclipse 31 Looking Back over San Marcos Pass 32 Indelibility 33 Metamorphosis 34 On Finding a Salamander in the Hollywood Hills 35 Keeping Up Appearances 36 Looking for Alligators near Kennedy Space Center 37 The Burrowing Bees 38 Hotel Balcony 40 III Time + Distance 43 Summer Tankas 44 The Stream at Jackass Meadow 45 I Felt the Tree Go Bare 46 Green 47 Fifties Music 48 Second Honeymoon 49 Nimis Compos Mentis 50 The Pool 52 Lothario 53 This Kiss 54 The Bachelor 55 IV Odyssey 59 The Last Concert 60 Mary Cassatt.Two Studies 61 The Train Bearer 63 Fifteen 64 The Outfielder 65 Shell 66 The Memory of Abortion Unexpectedly Returns 67 Film Noir 68 Lake Arrowhead 69 Northridge, 1952:A Mother Looks for Her Children 70 Conundrum 72 V To the Poet Who Thinks I Praise Promiscuously 75 The Education of a Poet 76 Letter to Philip Larkin 77 A Feminine Riposte to X.J. Kennedy 80 Thoughts while Reading Robert Frost on NewYear’s Day in Idaho 81 On Hearing Gwendolyn Brooks 82 Emily’s Words 83 Sweeping 84 The Old Capitalist 85 Dividing China 86 Parking Lot 87 This page intentionally left blank. ...