Mind Like This

Susan Blackwell Ramsey is an instructor at Kalamazoo Institute of Art. She won the Marjorie J. Wilson Award from Margie: The Journal for American Poetry and her poem "Pickled Heads, St. Petersburg" was chosen for the 2009 edition of Best American Poetry.

"Susan Blackwell Ramsey, a poet of unending curiosity, gives us ample evidence here of what the mind can find when it goes looking for what it does not yet see. Her poems have a way of making the world feel just discovered, and convey a sense of attachment to people that is expansive and invigorating. This is a fine book by a wonderful poet."—Bob Hicok, author of Words for Empty and Words for Full "Susan Blackwell Ramsey—a poet who sees, remembers, and sorts it all out. Check out 'Our Third Wedding Reception This Year,' a sonnet with meter and rhyme all in place, but so conversational that formalities slip away and the story itself unfolds as though the teller were sitting across from us at the window."—Conrad Hilberry, author of After-Music "Rife with humor and grace. . . . A Mind Like This showcases a supremely supple and cultivated imagination that unbolts yards and yards of elegant and ardent poems. But the real thrill? Her dazzling wit that lights the whole collection aflame."—Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of Lucky Fish "A Mind Like This covers so much ground with such unbridled enthusiasm at the joy of language and the mysteries of mind that only poetry can attempt to illuminate that, fifty-four poems later, the reader will be on the lookout for Ramsey's next book, and possibly scouring literary magazines for a more immediate fix."—Daniel Coffey, ForeWord

• Source AcknowledgmentsA Mind Like ThisPickled Heads: St. PetersburgLouise Erdrich Learning OjibiwemowinTell Me If You've Heard This OneKalamazoo Decides She Likes Her Name"And All Trades, Their Gear And Tackle And Trim"BolichePeripheral: Emerson, 1847Knitting LaceThe Duc de Saint-Simon Buys Lady Murasaki a DrinkJanuary, TulipsGaudeamus, Full Band VersionA Mind Like ThisThe Comfort of Pickup TrucksWhy I Hate StorytellersAftereffects of Bell's PalsyOde to My BladderOutside InterestsLearning CurvesMount St. Helen's, May 18, 1980 Sexing the AlligatorThe SwordMariah Educates the SensitiveCrocheting ChaosChildren in ChurchBeadsThe Kalamazoo MastodonI'm in Love with Leonard WoolfIn Order to Swallow, a Frog Has to Close Its EyesNeruda in KalamazooDeadheading with KelleeValentine's Day in KalamazooTaking Jimmy Stewart to BedThe Year Hits PerimenopauseSow's EarLilium OrientaleHow to Seduce Henry David ThoreauTo a Picky Eater at Love's TableAugustLetter to Matt on the Opening Day of Deer SeasonStallingAmplificationSexing the AlligatorThe Genome for LuckLidian Emerson Watches Her House Burn, Concord, July 23, 1872 Pattern and GroundConsider HairsEmerson's EyesThe Only Other Female in the HouseEgg Tempera Painting, Koo Schadler, Kalamazoo Institute of ArtsThe Tuesday Before Our Friday VisitAfterthoughtMeeting Edward Lear in HeavenElegy from Halfway Up the DriveOur Third Wedding Reception This Year Hits Its StridePattern and GroundWashing My Husband's Kilt Hose: A 32-Bar Reel