Selected by Marie Howe from over one thousand submissions, "Nine Acres" is the winner of the "American Poetry Review"/APR Honickman First Book Prize. Taking their titles from chapters of a 1930s small-scale farming handbook, the fifty-two poems in this cycle create a handbook for living and explore sustainability on many levels--on the land, in the family, and in the spirit.
As Marie Howe writes in her introduction to the book, "Nathanial Perry has collected poems into this book as one plants a field, as an act of husbandry: each line a furrow where seeds flourish or fail. Husbandry--to create a dwelling place and to care for it--these are the ancient acts."
"Soil Surface Management"
"I spent the afternoon breaking
ground. The tiller bucked and groaned
at the job, but with each pass I saw
a perfect blankness, like I'd been loaned
a second life in which to grow
a third. The sun sat on its porch
and smiled. I wondered if the dirt
would be enough, a kind of torch
to set inside our lives to say,
we'll grow our food like this, our plans
will look like this --like soil squared
and measured into beds by a man
sweating through his shirt with effort.
In dirt is one life we can choose
to make. I spent the afternoon
breaking what I knew we'd use."
Nathaniel Perry lives with his family in rural southside Virginia. He is the editor of the "Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review" and teaches at Hampden-Sydney College.
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Selected by Marie Howe from over one thousand submissions, "Nine Acres" is the winner of the "American Poetry Review"/APR Honickman First Book Prize. Taking their titles from chapters of a 1930s small-scale farming handbook, the fifty-two poems in this cycle create a handbook for living and explore sustainability on many levels--on the land, in the family, and in the spirit.
As Marie Howe writes in her introduction to the book, "Nathanial Perry has collected poems into this book as one plants a field, as an act of husbandry: each line a furrow where seeds flourish or fail. Husbandry--to create a dwelling place and to care for it--these are the ancient acts."
"Soil Surface Management"
"I spent the afternoon breaking
ground. The tiller bucked and groaned
at the job, but with each pass I saw
a perfect blankness, like I'd been loaned
a second life in which to grow
a third. The sun sat on its porch
and smiled. I wondered if the dirt
would be enough, a kind of torch
to set inside our lives to say,
we'll grow our food like this, our plans
will look like this --like soil squared
and measured into beds by a man
sweating through his shirt with effort.
In dirt is one life we can choose
to make. I spent the afternoon
breaking what I knew we'd use."
Nathaniel Perry lives with his family in rural southside Virginia. He is the editor of the "Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review" and teaches at Hampden-Sydney College.
Imprint | American Poetry Review |
Country of origin | United States |
Series | APR Honickman 1st Book Prize |
Release date | November 2011 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days |
First published | October 2011 |
Authors | Nathaniel Perry |
Introduction by | Marie Howe |
Dimensions | 229 x 178 x 5mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback - Trade |
Pages | 96 |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-9833008-0-9 |
Barcode | 9780983300809 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-9833008-0-1 |