Astoriaexamines the transitory physical world of the body and reflects on the seamless quality of the present moment. Surrounded by the rush and noise of trains, highways, and grocery store checkout lines, the narrator of these poems creates an intimate space in which to ponder the ephemeral nature of everyday things and the deeper meanings that might underlie them all. "It is amazing / we're not more amazed," one poem muses, "The world / is here / and then it is gone." The poems inAstoriaunravel the hidden within the obvious, and speak to our innate questions of longing, purpose, and existence.
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Front Matter Front Matter (pp. [i]-[vi])https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.1 -
Table of Contents Table of Contents (pp. [vii]-[viii])https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.2 -
I -
If There Is Another World If There Is Another World (pp. 3-4)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.3 -
Aloft Aloft (pp. 5-5)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.4 -
Happiness Happiness (pp. 6-6)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.5 -
Matter Matter (pp. 7-7)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.6 Tonight, because all matter crumbles, your father sits drunker than usual in the red armchair. His back is to the window, level with the yellow sheen of the street lamp that falls on his left shoulder and down across his chest. From the other side of the living room, he is an icon in a white undershirt. Now he applies his concentration to balancing the highball on the armrest. Successful, he looks up exalted and tells you how you must carry the tables and chairs, the beds and bookcases, everything you own out into the yard and burn it....
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A Story A Story (pp. 8-8)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.7 -
Becoming a Coat Becoming a Coat (pp. 9-9)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.8 -
Wearing a Death Wearing a Death (pp. 10-10)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.9 -
131st Street 131st Street (pp. 11-12)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.10 -
Gone Gone (pp. 13-16)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.11
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II -
From the Train From the Train (pp. 19-20)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.12 -
Simply Lit Simply Lit (pp. 21-22)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.13 -
Seemed Pleased Seemed Pleased (pp. 23-24)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.14 -
Traveling Traveling (pp. 25-25)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.15 -
Above the Expressway Above the Expressway (pp. 26-27)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.16 -
After Herbert After Herbert (pp. 28-29)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.17 -
Wallpaper Wallpaper (pp. 30-31)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.18 -
See High Above See High Above (pp. 32-34)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.19
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III -
An Inventory An Inventory (pp. 37-38)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.20 -
Gift Box Gift Box (pp. 39-40)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.21 -
In the Yellow Head of a Tulip In the Yellow Head of a Tulip (pp. 41-42)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.22 -
Maps Maps (pp. 43-43)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.23 -
The Empowerment The Empowerment (pp. 44-44)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.24 -
When Our House Was Old When Our House Was Old (pp. 45-47)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.25 -
An Entrance An Entrance (pp. 48-48)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.26
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IV -
An Entrance An Entrance (pp. 51-51)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.27 -
A W for M A W for M (pp. 52-52)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.28 -
A Wake A Wake (pp. 53-53)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.29 I called Michael and he told me he just got home from a wake. “Oh, I am sorry,” I said. “No, no,” he said, “it was the best wake I have ever been to. The funeral home was as warm and as cozy as anyone’s living room. We had the greatest time. My friend looked wonderful, much better dead than alive. He wore his red and green Hawaiian shirt. He was the most handsome corpse I’d ever seen. They did such a good job! His daughter was there and a lot of old friends I had not seen in years....
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The Floating World The Floating World (pp. 54-54)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.30 -
Everything Is True Everything Is True (pp. 55-55)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.31 There is a room of the past and a room of the cosmos. A room of chandeliers and a room of peonies dropping their pink beauty onto the old table. There is a house with walls of weathered clapboard and paths that lead both to the ocean and to the mountains and at dusk to the anonymous blue airspaces of the city. There are high double-hung windows and doors with etched glass behind which the rooms are lit like yellow leaves in the night. Everything is true inside the house as well as outside the house—where at this moment...
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No Precise Location No Precise Location (pp. 56-56)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.32 -
My Shadow Falls Out of My Body My Shadow Falls Out of My Body (pp. 57-57)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.33 -
A Spring Day A Spring Day (pp. 58-59)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.34 -
Imitation Imitation (pp. 60-60)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.35 -
Late at Night Late at Night (pp. 61-61)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.36 -
The Effects The Effects (pp. 62-63)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.37 -
The River The River (pp. 64-66)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.38 -
Where We Are Where We Are (pp. 67-68)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.39
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Acknowledgments Acknowledgments (pp. 69-70)https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.40