Otherings

By Allison Cundiff

This is the second collection of poems by St. Louis teacher and poet, Allison Cundiff, capturing some of her experiences as she grows up in Climax Springs, Missouri, and then as she extends her reach out into the world at large.  The forty some poems gathered here are expressions of wonder and wisdom, love and heartbreak, close encounters w

• Language: English
• Publisher: Golden Antelope Press
• Release date: Aug 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781936135424

Book preview

Cover_Interior

OTHERINGS

poems by

Allison Cundiff

Copyright 2016 by Allison Cundiff.

Images Copyright 2016 by individual photographers named with photographs.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be duplicated in any way without the expressed written consent of the publisher, except in the form of brief excerpts or quotations for review purposes.

ISBN 978-1-936135-42-4

Published by:

Golden Antelope Press

715 E. McPherson

Kirksville, Missouri 63501

Available at:

Golden Antelope Press

715 E. McPherson

Kirksville, Missouri, 63501

Phone: [phone]

http://www.goldenantelope.com

Email: [e-mail]

Allison Cundiff's power as a poet lies in the distillation of moments. She condenses time and space so you can hold them in your mind and mull over the life playing out before you. Cundiff purifies the thoughts and emotions of events until they become the kind of narrative poems you want to carry around in your pocket.

—Melissa Singleton, Founder and Host of Goodie House Poetry

Cundiff's poems dissect and analyze the human body like a Grecian urn, every curve and crack and scar evidence of a past that cannot be withheld. The relationships she trains her poet's eye upon, too, prove themselves to be firmly rooted within in time and memory: promises and disappointments, fears and dreams, little comings back, / little half forgottens. Otherings offers its readers all these moments from which Cundiff refuses to flinch.

—Jeffrey Zuckerman, Music & Literature Magazine

M. Linn

For Camille, because she is my whole heart,

and because she told me

write it down, right now, before you forget.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Part One

Birth of the Moon

Dresser Change

Lake

Spring

What Poor Feels Like

Dinner at Taste Restaurant

Being Six

Library Girl

First Crush

Catholic School

Mother

Fig 2

Part Two

Little Havana

Laylow

Little Breakup Thoughts

Dickens and You

In Mycenae

Hard Rain

Cobblestone Skin

Palermo

Valentine’s Day

Theo

Nothing Feels As Good

Rome

Bill

Part Three

Climax Springs

Love

Curmudgeon Bar

Joe’s Shanghai

How to Properly Eat a Burger

二〇一二年一月二十八曰 (28 January 2012)

Trust Me

After Your Lover Dies

Pickup Parked Outside

Cove in Spring

Stardust

Shame

Dear

The Body

Judy Loves Steve

Before Dinner

Today

Credits

About the Author

Introduction

I’m no athlete, but I’ve heard that when you’re at bat, you’re supposed to try to see the ball come in slow. That’s a great image. A hitter so focused he’s able to manipulate his perception of time. I suppose there are several places in life where it would be nice to slow down the play, to savor what’s coming. I regret the times I rushed.

Since Homer