Astoria
Astoria
MALENA MÖRLING
Series: Pitt Poetry Series
Copyright Date: 2006
Published by: University of Pittsburgh Press
https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2
Pages: 80
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hjpq2
Search for reviews of this book
Book Info
Astoria
Book Description:

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.

eISBN: 978-0-8229-9063-5
Subjects: Language & Literature
You do not have access to this book on JSTOR. Try logging in through your institution for access.
Log in to your personal account or through your institution.
Table of Contents
Select / Unselect all
  1. Front Matter
    Front Matter (pp. [i]-[vi])
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.1
  2. Table of Contents
    Table of Contents (pp. [vii]-[viii])
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.2
  3. 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....

    • 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
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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....

    • 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...

    • 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
  7. Acknowledgments
    Acknowledgments (pp. 69-70)
    https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt5hjpq2.40