Imaginary Vessels

Compelling, Appealing, Cinematic. Rekdal Refreshes The Meaning And The Image Of Being Displaced In This World. -the Boston Globe Rekdal's Work Deeply Satisfies, For It Witnesses And Wonders Over The Necessary Struggles Of Human Awareness And Being. -rain Taxi In Acknowledging The Disappointing Facts Of Our Existence And Singing Her Way Into Its Amazement, She Has Created Poetry That Lives Alongside The Misery We Sometimes Witness-and Sometimes Cause. -slate Paisley Rekdal Questions How Identity And Being Inhabit Metaphorical And Personified Vessels, From Blown Glass And Soap Bubbles To Skulls Unearthed At The Colorado State Mental Institution. Whether Writing Short Lyrics Or A Sonnet Sequence Celebrating Mae West, Rekdal's Intellectually Inquisitive And Carefully Researched Poems Delight In Sound, Meter, And Head-on Engagement. Illustrated With Twelve Andrea Modica Photographs. From You're: Vague As Fog And Turnip-hipped, A Creel Of Eels That Slithers In Stains. Dirty Slate, You're Diamond Lil. She's You, You Say. You're Her. She's I. O Mae, Fifth Grade, We Dressed In Feathers And Our Mothers' Slit Pink Slips, Dipped Into Your Schema And Your Accent, Aspiring (like You) To Be Able To Order Coffee And Have It Sound Like Filth. Paisley Rekdal Is The Author Of Four Books Of Poetry, A Book Of Personal Essays, And A Mixed Media Book Of Photography, Poetry, Fiction And Non-fiction. She Lives In Salt Lake City And Teaches At The University Of Utah-- Paisley Rekdal. Lannan Literary Selection. Includes Bibliographical References (page 117).

"Compelling, appealing, cinematic . . . Rekdal refreshes the meaning and the image of being displaced in this world." —The Boston Globe

"Rekdal's work deeply satisfies, for it witnesses and wonders over the necessary struggles of human awareness and being." —Rain Taxi

"In acknowledging the disappointing facts of our existence and singing her way into its amazement, she has created poetry that lives alongside the misery we sometimes witness—and sometimes cause." —Slate

Paisley Rekdal questions how identity and being inhabit metaphorical and personified "vessels," from blown glass and soap bubbles to skulls unearthed at the Colorado State Mental Institution. Whether writing short lyrics or a sonnet sequence celebrating Mae West, Rekdal's intellectually inquisitive and carefully researched poems delight in sound, meter, and head-on engagement. Illustrated with twelve Andrea Modica photographs.

From "You're":

Vague as fog and turnip—hipped, a creel of eels
that slithers in stains. Dirty slate, you're
Diamond Lil. She's you, you say. You're her. She's I. O
Mae, fifth grade, we dressed in feathers and our mothers' slit
pink slips, dipped into your schema and your accent,
aspiring (like you) to be able to order coffee and have it
sound like filth . . .

Paisley Rekdal is the author of four books of poetry, a book of personal essays, and a mixed media book of photography, poetry, fiction and non-fiction. She lives in Salt Lake City and teaches at the University of Utah.

""Compelling, appealing, cinematic. Rekdal refreshes the meaning and the image of being displaced in this world."--The Boston Globe "Rekdal's work deeply satisfies, for it witnesses and wonders over the necessary struggles of human awareness and being." -Rain Taxi "In acknowledging the disappointing facts of our existence and singing her way into its amazement, she has created poetry that lives alongside the misery we sometimes witness-and sometimes cause." -Slate Paisley Rekdal questions how identity and being inhabit metaphorical and personified "vessels," from blown glass and soap bubbles to skulls unearthed at the Colorado State Mental Institution. Whether writing short lyrics or a sonnet sequence celebrating Mae West, Rekdal's intellectually inquisitive and carefully researched poems delight in sound, meter, and head-on engagement. Illustrated with twelve Andrea Modica photographs. From "You're": Vague as fog and turnip-hipped, a creel of eels that slithers in stains. Dirty slate, you're Diamond Lil. She's you, you say. You're her. She's I.O Mae, fifth grade, we dressed in feathers and our mothers' slit pink slips, dipped into your schema and your accent, aspiring (like you) to be able to order coffee and have it sound like filth. Paisley Rekdal is the author of four books of poetry, a book of personal essays, and a mixed media book of photography, poetry, fiction and non-fiction. She lives in Salt Lake City and teaches at the University of Utah"-- Provided by publisher Cover; Title Page; Note to Reader; Dedication; Contents; I; Murano; Bubbles; Vessels; A Peacock in a Cage; At the Fishhouses; When It Is Over, It Will Be Over; Letter from the Pribilofs; II. Go West; Youâ#x80;#x99;re; Mae West: Advice; Marriage; Censored; Freedom; Go West; The New Woman; Mae West: On Aging; â#x80;#x9C;Celebrityâ#x80;#x9D; Striptease at Southern X-Posure; Confessional; Self-Portrait as Mae West One-Liner; Never; Prayer; Envoi; III; W.C. Fields Takes a Walk; Philip Larkinâ#x80;#x99;s Koan; Once; Saturdays at Reynolds Work Release; Olive Oatman in Texas. Assemblage of Ruined Plane Parts, Vietnam Military Museum, HanoiIV. Shooting the Skulls: A Wartime Devotional; Portrait of F19: Male, 42 Years Old; Portrait of D6: Male, 38 Years Old; B17: Male, 38 Years Old; F21: Male, 37 Years Old; Devotional; Devotional; Portrait of F11: Female, 39 Years Old; F20: Male, 29 Years Old; Portrait of D19: Male, 41 Years Old; Portrait of D17: Female, 37 Years Old; C18: Male, 36 Years Old; Devotional; Devotional; Portrait of E4: Male, 34 Years Old; Devotional; Devotional; C2: Male, 42 Years Old; Portrait of E20: Female, 32 Years Old; C11: Female, 54 Years Old. Portrait of B4: Female, 34 Years OldPortrait of C8: Male, 32 Years Old; V; Baucis and Philemon; Rhetoric; Irises; Monticello Vase; Birthday Poem; Mortal Love; The History of Paisley; Notes; About the Author; Also by Paisley Rekdal; Acknowledgments; Copyright.