Four Days in Algeria

Poems

Clarence Major

• Publisher: Red Hen Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781636281780
• eBook ISBN: 9781636281797
• Topic: Literatura
• Subtopic: Poesía americana

PEN / REGINALD LOCKETT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN LITERATURE • PRIZE-WINNING NOVELIST, POET, AND PAINTER • GEORGIA WRITER’S HALL OF FAME

"A world traveler's notebook of gentle, affable observations."—The New York Times Book Review • “A remarkable mind and the talent to match.”—Toni Morrison, Nobel-prize winning author • “A very powerful book!”—Cornelius Eady • “Radiant with attentiveness and loving compassion”—Rikki Ducornet • “A feast to be reckoned with.”—Allison Joseph • “A new book by Major is a literary event.”—John Beckman • “For forty-five years Major has been on the cutting edge of literature.”—Richard Price • “Major is an essential American writer.”—Steve Yarbrough

Clarence Major’s Four Days in Algeria is a poetic feast of travel, taking us to Paris, Florence, Ghana, Algeria, and many other places. We also experience the seasons in fresh ways. Delicious food, too, is laid before us. There are quiet moments, as on a houseboat, where the poet is writing poetry. Major gives us adventurous encounters with ordinary life rendered through poems of dazzling agility and fearless bluntness. These are also poems of unfettered Augustan honesty. They radiate with lyrical purity. Allegorical and spontaneous, they are full of holiday energy as the poet passionately affirms life, whether as he travels or simply in quiet moments of reflection.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Tourists
• August in Paris
• I’ve Just Checked In
• 10:30 p.m.
• One O’Clock in Florence
• Closed on Sunday
• Under the Stars
• The Hotel Room
• Fish Soup
• Cypresses
• Cadmium Yellow Light
• Beach
• A Girl on the Beach
• Five People
• Arriving
• Skulls
• This Morning
• The End of the World
• Winter Morning on the Terrace
• The Lady, the Maid, and the Dog
• Houseboat
• Character
• Four Days in Algeria
• A Museum Hallway
• After a Few Drinks
• Fall
• The Cathedral
• The Old Hut
• Like Dreamtime
• Manners
• Luncheon
• Night Lights
• This Stretch
• Printmaking
• Vacation Rental
• Vacation
• In Balboa Park
• Fisherman’s Wharf
• Eyeglasses
• The Left-Handed Car
• Whisky
• Benches
• Chopped Salad
• Noon in the Park
• Independence
• Tradition
• Transported
• Trouble in the Desert
• Tree Rings
• Suddenly
• The Necessity of Water
• The Prime Mover
• The Goat Girl
• Rebellion
• Shopwindows
• Roadside Restaurant: All You Can Eat
• Renting
• The Pianist
• The Circus Is in Town
• Another Realm
• A Dead Child
• Reading
• Puzzle
• H2O
• Checkers
• Automation
• Is the World an Apple?
• The Comfort of Books
• A Quick Beer
• Sleep
• Our Secret Market
• Bicycles
• Going Back
• Shoes
• Winning
• Lake Tahoe
• Crossing the Park
• Sojourner Truth’s Tiny Eyeglasses
• Releasing
• Chalk Marks on the Sidewalk
• The Spanish Civil War
• Grief
• Fear and Longing
• Crossing the Street
• The Virus
• The Rich Girl and Her Chauffeur at the Café
• A Place on the Way
• Things You Can Do
• Night in the City
• First Light
• A Memory
• Studio
• The Americain
• At Sea
• Scarecrow
• After This Poem
• Hot Afternoon
• Clothespins
• Outdoor Café Scene
• Her Parallel
• Static
• The Famous Model
• How the Republic Was Born
• Gibbet
• Important Work
• Biographical Note
• Back Cover