Poetry. Winner of the 2004 Tupelo Press First Book competition, this collection of work from celebrated poet Lillias Bever explores themes of art, archeology, and the idea of cultural transmission. Revolving around the Italian painter Gentile Bellini's pilgrimage to Istanbul in 1479, the poems are at once both personal and socio-historical in scope. Bever lives in Seattle, and is the recipient of the Seattle Arts Commission award and a literature fellowship from Artist Trust/Washington State Arts Commission.
| Horse | 12 | |
| Sapphic fragment | 13 | |
| Aubade | 14 | |
| Excavation : desk drawer | 16 | |
| Statue | 18 | |
| Cesarean | 19 | |
| Excavation dream | 22 | |
| Tools | 23 | |
| Second dream | 24 | |
| Artifact | 25 | |
| Third dream | 26 | |
| Ceramics analysis | 27 | |
| Last dream | 28 | |
| The tomb of the weeping women | 29 | |
| Signs and portents | 36 | |
| Called to the ottoman | 37 | |
| Scenes from a sketchbook | 38 | |
| Mehmet sniffing a rose | 40 | |
| After nature | 42 | |
| Cose di Lussuria | 45 | |
| Young man drawing | 47 | |
| Album of the conqueror | 49 | |
| Self-portrait | 51 | |
| Miracle at the Bridge of San Lorenzo | 52 | |
| Portrait of the conqueror | 54 | |
| Imperial reflections | 58 | |
| Ezan | 61 | |
| The Karakoy fish market | 62 | |
| Man in an Oriental costume | 64 | |
| Night voices | 66 | |
| In the treasury of swords | 68 | |
| The Alexander sarcophagus | 71 | |
| Catalogue | 73 | |
| Storm | 75 | |
| Fragment #5 | 76 | |
| Index Islamicus | 77 | |
| Blue guide to Istanbul | 79 |
Overview
Poetry. Winner of the 2004 Tupelo Press First Book competition, this collection of work from celebrated poet Lillias Bever explores themes of art, archeology, and the idea of cultural transmission. Revolving around the Italian painter Gentile Bellini's pilgrimage to Istanbul in 1479, the poems are at once both personal and socio-historical in scope. Bever lives in Seattle, and is the recipient of the Seattle Arts Commission award and a literature fellowship from Artist ...