- 80 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
FINALIST FOR THE MIDWEST BOOKSELLERS CHOICE AWARD (POETRY)
A searing, urgent collection of poems that brings the lyric and documentary together in unparalleled ways—unmasking and examining the specter of manmade disaster.
On September 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven men and began what would become the largest oil spill ever in US waters. On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, leading to a death toll that is still unconfirmed. And in April 2014, the Flint water crisis began, exposing thousands of people to lead-contaminated drinking water. This is the litany of our time—and these are the events that Rebecca Dunham traces, passionately and brilliantly, in Cold Pastoral.
In poems that incorporate interviews and excerpts from government documents and other sources—poems that adopt the pastoral and elegiac traditions in a landscape where "I can't see the bugs; I don't hear the birds"—Dunham invokes the poet as moral witness. "I owe him, " she writes of one man affected by the oil spill, "must learn, at last, how to look."
Experimental and incisive, Cold Pastoral is a collection that reveals what poetry can—and, perhaps, should—be, reflecting ourselves and our world back with gorgeous clarity.
Frequently asked questions
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Mnemosyne to the Poet
- Elegy, Wind-Whipped
- Atavism at Twilight
- Black Horizon
- In Which She Opens the Box
- Elegy, Sung in Dirt
- Mud
- Field Note, 2011
- Et in Arcadia Ego
- Suburban Elegy
- Field Note, 2011
- Initial Exploration Report: Macondo Well
- Blowout
- To Walk on Air
- Elegy for the Eleven
- Daybreak
- There Lies the Hydra
- To Narcissus
- Backyard Pastoral
- In Which She Considers the Water
- Elegy, a Catalogue
- Field Note, 2011
- Elegy Written in Oil
- A Hive of Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author