Cracked & Broken: poems of midlife

By Sean Petrie

"A consistently-surprising exploration of aging - of the discovery that middle age is where one's identity can flourish in a way it never could in youth. A compelling poetic journey."

- Publisher's Weekly

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An ode to the overlooked. A tribute to mediocre donuts. A lament on lost dreams. In Crac

• Language: English
• Publisher: Burlwood Books
• Release date: Dec 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781961853027

Sean Petrie

Sean is a poet, author, and professor. His books include Typewriter Rodeo, Listen to the Trees, the Jett Ryder series, and the Pet Poems workbook for kids. As a founder of the nationally-renowned Typewriter Rodeo, he's written over 20,000 poems for strangers all across the country. He does weekly radio poems for Texas NPR and teaches at the University of Texas.www.seanpetrie.com

Book preview

CRACKED & BROKEN

poems of midlife

Sean Petrie

Burlwood Books

Copyright © 2023 Sean Petrie

Burlwood Books

Austin, Texas

BurlwoodBooks.com

First published in the United States of America

by Burlwood Books 2023

Front cover design by Andrea Wofford  

Back cover design by Andrea Wofford & Shanna Gerlach

Front cover illustration from French magazine L'Illustration, No 2481, September 13, 1890, titled The Patrie hot air balloon falling 1400 metres, Paris, France, housed in the museum Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy (artist unknown)

Back cover photo by Brad Marcum

Burlwood supports copyright. Copyright promotes diverse voices, sparks creativity, protects free speech, and creates a society that celebrates the arts. Thank you for buying an authorized version and not selling out for a rip-off, and for not trying to make a quick buck by reproducing or distributing any part of this without permission. Practicing common decency helps support writers and, well, just all of us.

ISBN 978-1-961853-00-3

1. Poetry 2. Aging—Poetry

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

To the regulars at The Gingerman & Elliott Bay,

and all the other soul searchers out there

Also to my parents

(I'm doing fine, Mom & Dad, I promise)

Introduction

"These poems crackle with the kind of joy-shine mined from well-lived days. I smiled and ached on every page. With pain-carved wisdom, a perfect vulnerable wit, and an eye for delicious details, Petrie sings us through long-loved pubs, rooftop sunrises, desert sandscapes, treasured heartache, and exquisite moments recognizing how very beautiful it is to be alive."

—Owen Egerton, author of Hollow (an NPR Best Book of the Year)

Nothing knows how shining and vital you are.

—T.R. HUMMER

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

Epigraph

POEMS

You Are a Child of the Universe

Millstone

Celebrating

Barnacle (To What End?)

I Find It Helpful

Letting the Gray Grow

Carl

I Poured Out My Heart

No Photos Allowed!

Vetiver Root

Growing Lettuce

Jiggly Bits

Cracked

Bar Poems (a triptych)

Inundated with Wonder

You Can’t

Firepit Fondue

Boxing

Sprint

Hello, Heart

Invisible Ink

An Abundance of Annabels (a triptych)

Fame

Pruning

Cracked Is the Heart

Ghosts

Beer Foam All the Way Down

Here's a Brochure to Explain That Poem

Tender

I Want a Holographic Display

Being 50 Is Nothing!

Broken (from the bottom up)

Dolores O’Riordan

Rainbow Puppy Joytimes!

Sometimes That’s All You Get (An Ode to Cate)

And Then It’s Done

Rain

Truly Known

Burl

I Just Want to Grab Everything Good

To Steven

Pour-Over Coffee

Stranger

Ode to the Closed Pub

Lost Forever

Show Don’t Tell

The House of the Tragic Poet

Gathering Rain

Dusk

Original

Meal From the Staff

Things Not Carried

Ghost

I Wanted to Write the Best Poem

A Form of Emptying

Gahanna Field

Resilience

Stained

Stairwell, Drunk, 12:03am

Lamenting the Loss of a Pub

Roots

Something Better

Three Spots

Benediction (a haiku)

Lines Written in Early Winter

Golden Goose

What I Wish I’d Been Told

Unbroken Solitude

Construction (Gravity, Death, Love)

Waving Goodbye

Leave the Door