Way of the Earth

These poems meditate on fragments of memory that make up life. A door is cracked, a window, letting in the whole of the world where ‘all the ways of knowing have never added up to a single whole. A birdcall is a birdcall.’ In moments that recall the loss of a child and ask us to witness grief, we are also asked to find a way beyond pain. These poems are prayers against sorrow, and as Shenoda writes they are what might lead us, even if only for a moment, to the sacred." —Dorianne Laux, author of Only As the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems"Out of this quiet, meditative work something prayerful as attention emerges and fills my lives with deepest feeling. I am awakened into wonder by this voice made of root and wind and waters, glinting with memory, all time touching inside it." —Aracelis Girmay, author of The Black Maria"This gorgeous book is full of captivating description and introspective wisdom" —Publishers WeeklyPRAISE FOR MATTHEW SHENODA"Matthew Shenoda uses a quiet language to bring some of the most striking lyrical intensity one will ever read." —A. Van Jordan, author of The Cineaste: Poems"A poet with deep roots in a dozen worlds, Matthew Shenoda is also a deft and savvy storyteller whose voice can't be everywhere soon enough." —Patricia Smith, author of Incendiary Art: Poems (TriQuarterly Books"Through Matthew’s work, we learn that poetry is both about speaking up and about surviving and as long as we do these things, ‘they just cannot touch us." —Adrian Matejka, Ploughshares

• PreludeITimeGlintSleepTracesFireTo Be Carried By AirEvolutionLossStillOil and MyrrhCrossing OverMidday SunThe Edge is the End of the BeginningIICoastalSuccessionLocalCanto for PasadenaIn the Post-Conflict NationOur ReturningSong of the DispersedThawWorkWho Feels It, Knows ItWildUnknowingGlimpseSeeingRefugeAn Afternoon in JulyRock HeadThe UnlearningRevelation: Africa: DiasporaAcknowledgements