Cold Reading

By Geoff Peterson

If its down & dirty in the life of small rooms you want,

search no further. Cold Reading reports from the trenches.

In a book as thin as a worn sheet, the poet cops a plea

for all residents on the rim. This is the book to take to

bed when its the best you can doalong with a mess

of army blankets & a cheap radio. Some winters are

so cold that a man must decide whether to read or burn

the furniture. Made up of late-night binges of sour

grapes & jeremiads, these 54 entries hit the spot like

a preacher on ludes. If nothing else, theyll put

the chill of god into a moments notice. Cold Reading

is bad, badand wonderful for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 20, 2007
• ISBN: 9781467858946

Geoff Peterson

Born just after World War II, Peterson inherited his mother's nervous system and went on to memorize and perform poetry in a lyric vein for family and card parties. Raised Catholic, the boy learned the value of dreams, visions, and the soothing aspects of prayer in unison. He later earned degrees in Literature and Writing at Eastern Washington University, and served as poetry editor for Willow Springs Magazine. With the publication of his first novel in 1989, Peterson turned his back on mainstream publishing and has not looked back. Since 2007 he has published nearly thirty books of poetry and fiction. He lives in the Southwest and still gets around.

Book preview

© 2007 geoff peterson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/11/2007

ISBN: 9781467858946 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

Acknowledgments

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About the Author

Acknowledgments

I dedicate this journal

to Rob Nilsson

for the films he makes

and what he says

to the 15,000

skol

last winter i survived

without the generous support

of the national endowment for the arts

with their support this work

of the heart would

not have been possible

not a single line of text

has appeared anywhere

so help me god

except #32

do you mean to tell me

that appeared

in poetry scene

Cee Williams & Heidi Blakeslee, eds.

1.

then comes winter

taping windows shut

asleep with my clothes on

the cat shitting worms

at night boiled potatoes

& hard black bread

rehearsing gorky’s lower depths

in bad translation

such