What I Said to Prove I Was Sane: A Poetry Collection

By Michael Yots

As the title of this poetry collection playfully suggests, each poem in WHAT I SAID TO PROVE I WAS SANE represents an attempt by author Michael Yots to explain himself. Many of the poems also evoke a dream atmosphere that suggests that waking life and dream life are equally valid expressions of what we call reality. Most of all, his poems are explorations of the many selves that make up ones identity and make life such a fascinating journey.

From In the Clock Shop to Teaching My Sons to Dance, Michael Yots captures both the essence of everyday life and the wisdom of age. He questions himself and what makes him tick in a thoroughly engaging manner that draws you into his world instead of leaving you to linger as a silent observer. WHAT I SAID TO PROVE I WAS SANE is a poetry collection that truly reveals the man and his emotional life.

On the Birth of My First Child

Through plate glass windows,
I reach out to touch you,
wrinkled beauty,
crying unheard,
florescent glare,
the cold of disconnection
I reach out, impotent,
heart in quarantine,
to give a sign of love
unable to compete with
warmth of mother-milk.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450295963

Michael Yots

MICHAEL YOTS was the cofounder of The Panhandler, a poetry and fiction magazine, and served as its editor from 1979 to 1991. His poems have appeared in such journals as Southwest Review, Tar River Poetry, and New York Quarterly. Born in suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he now lives with his wife in Pensacola, Florida.

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What I Said to

Prove I Was Sane

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MICHAEL YOTS

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

What I Said to Prove I Was Sane

Copyright © 2011 by MICHAEL YOTS

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ISBN: 978-1-4502-9595-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4502-9596-3 (ebook)

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 03/11/2011

Contents

WHAT I SAID TO PROVE I WAS SANE

CRISP AND CLEAN

NECESSITY

READING DEAD POETS

CRITIQUE

IN THE CLOCK SHOP

ON SURVIVING THE FIRST ROUND

OF MIDLIFE CRISIS

OMENS

THE DAY THE CIRCUS DIED

IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY

A CRASH COURSE IN AMERICAN SOCIAL HISTORY

THE KING OF APPLE PICKERS

CLEAVING

SPELUNKING

DIRECTIONS TO MADAM ROSA’S

THE HEART OF THE MATTER

MRS. LOLA FROST’S LETTER TO THE EDITOR,

THE JOHNSON COUNTY GRAPHIC, JOHNSON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, 1982: A FOUND POEM

NIGHT TRAIN

AFTER INSANITY

THE BEAST AND I

STORM WARNING

AN UNFORGETTABLE ANIMAL STORY

NIGHT WITHOUT STARS

NIGHTS LIKE THESE

THE OBLIGATORY QUICKSAND SCENE

REVIEWING THE GAME FILMS

HIDING OUT

PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH THE HUNCHBACK

POINTS OF CONVERGENCE

THE ART OF REVISION

MARKING TIME

THE UNDOING

MOVING

GROWING SEASON

THE INVITATION

ADULT EDUCATION

REMEMBERING HOW IT WAS

NIGHTSOUNDS

ANIMAL MAGNETISM

CHECKING IN

ON THE BIRTH OF MY FIRST CHILD

SONNET FOR MY WIFE ON OUR ANNIVERSARY

LOSING IT

TO THE UNFINISHED MAN

A WINTER SONG FOR THE CHILDREN

THE WISHING WELL

REFLECTION

TEACHING MY SONS TO DANCE   

WATCHING MY SON CROSS THE HIGHWAY TO GO FISHING WITH HIS FRIENDS, OCTOBER 1983

FINISHING THE STORY

COMMUTING

REHEARSING A LESSON

THE BUILDERS

BITTERSWEET

KEEPING MY TENSES STRAIGHT

BASIC TRAINING

MAKING LOVE WITH THE LIGHTS ON

POEM FOR A SISTER WHO DIED IN INFANCY

SEVERING AN OLD TIE

ON A FRIEND’S SUICIDE

THE TEST

THINK SNOW

BATHING BEFORE THE FUNERAL

MARATHON ONE

AFTER THE BATTLE OF MARATHON

HERO’S WELCOME

REPAYING AN OLD DEBT

THE MARTYR’S CONFESSION

THE MARTYR RECALLS A DAY IN THE

MOUNTAINS WITH A CHILDHOOD FRIEND

THE MARTYR APPEARS TO HIS

FOLLOWERS IN A VISION

THE NIGHT BEFORE HIS DEATH, THE MARTYR

HEARS A VOICE LONG BURIED

MICHELANGELO OFF THE RECORD ON HIS INSPIRATION FOR THE SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING

NOTE FOUND NEXT TO LADY MACBETH’S BODY

AT EDGAR BERGEN’S FUNERAL

INDIAN SUMMER

THE OLD WOMAN AT HER KITCHEN WINDOW

DROUGHT

THE VETERAN

FROM THE INTERN’S NOTEBOOK: TERMINAL COUNSELING

AT MARIANNA STATE PARK

WORD HUSTLERS

THESE WORDS

Acknowledgements

For Arlene, Christian, Adrian, and Holly

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