Christopher Merrill has published six collections of poetry, including Watch Fire, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; many edited volumes and translations; and six books of nonfiction, among them, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars, Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain, The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War, and Self-Portrait with Dogwood. As director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries.

"Merrill is one of the most gifted, audacious, and accomplished poets of an extraordinary rich generation. His range of sympathy, subject, and tone has always been prodigious.” —W. S. Merwin

• ContentsIn PetraLodgeGothicExplain YourselfAfter Visiting the Gorky InstituteVenomFlareRoundaboutFall and RecoveryIn AlgiersFireOn the War Between the StatesIvoryThe Pastoral TraditionMarket ConditionsThe Gold StandardIn the Galápagos IslandsThe Monroe DoctrineThe Last SupperJuiceOligarchyNomadicThe AfterlifeExcavationThe Final ActFrom the ArchivesSin SportsThe StageWithoutVoltageThe OrchardThe FestivalThe BroochThe Fish Market in GuangzhouMirrorsStewFaithThe WeddingHomePaprikaFrom the Memory WardElevatorThe RiseOn GnosticismCheddar GorgeInventoryThe BenchTwo-Star HotelProvidenceRitualThe CrisisAuld Lang SyneDead LetterThe WordIn UnisonTranslation (1)Translation (2)The ZooWithout ObjectionThe ConcertThe HandkerchiefThe OddsGenesisPortageThe CensusMeantimeProverbs (1)Proverbs (2)Hell-bentIn the City of K.The HarvestReturn VisitNotes for a DanceStage PresenceThe KissBrickClayUtopiaLilacsThe River