The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian
The Garden of Earthly Delights Book of Ghazals ranges across time and place in visiting personal as well as historical and even imagined experience. As an abecedarian was once used to teach the basics of a thing—say, to recognize an alphabet—Gibson, who has labelled his collection a “scrambled abecedarian,” suggests that all meaning arises out of disorder. However, it is from this disorder that the varied subjects of the poems, controlled by a single form comprising the collection, are shaped into a significance, whether that significance is to record a life at its start, or at its conclusion.  

Degas

In Degas’ The Absinthe Drinker, the woman in the bar
looks so alone and depressed as she stares at her drink.

Earlier, she was imagining she would meet someone
as she was getting dressed; now, she stares at her drink.

There are drunks all around. Everyone drinks absinthe.
Lower-class women love it best. They stare at the drink

(it’s a poison, literally; they could care less), as they pour  
it over sugar to cut its bitterness. They stare and drink.

Degas said he viewed women as if through a bathroom keyhole:
she gazes into her crystal ball’s green mist—stares, drinks.
1137361293
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian
The Garden of Earthly Delights Book of Ghazals ranges across time and place in visiting personal as well as historical and even imagined experience. As an abecedarian was once used to teach the basics of a thing—say, to recognize an alphabet—Gibson, who has labelled his collection a “scrambled abecedarian,” suggests that all meaning arises out of disorder. However, it is from this disorder that the varied subjects of the poems, controlled by a single form comprising the collection, are shaped into a significance, whether that significance is to record a life at its start, or at its conclusion.  

Degas

In Degas’ The Absinthe Drinker, the woman in the bar
looks so alone and depressed as she stares at her drink.

Earlier, she was imagining she would meet someone
as she was getting dressed; now, she stares at her drink.

There are drunks all around. Everyone drinks absinthe.
Lower-class women love it best. They stare at the drink

(it’s a poison, literally; they could care less), as they pour  
it over sugar to cut its bitterness. They stare and drink.

Degas said he viewed women as if through a bathroom keyhole:
she gazes into her crystal ball’s green mist—stares, drinks.
12.99 In Stock
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian

The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian

by Stephen Gibson
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian
Add to Wishlist
The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian

The Garden of Earthly Delights: Book of Ghazals: A Scrambled Abecedarian

by Stephen Gibson

Overview

The Garden of Earthly Delights Book of Ghazals ranges across time and place in visiting personal as well as historical and even imagined experience. As an abecedarian was once used to teach the basics of a thing—say, to recognize an alphabet—Gibson, who has labelled his collection a “scrambled abecedarian,” suggests that all meaning arises out of disorder. However, it is from this disorder that the varied subjects of the poems, controlled by a single form comprising the collection, are shaped into a significance, whether that significance is to record a life at its start, or at its conclusion.  

Degas

In Degas’ The Absinthe Drinker, the woman in the bar
looks so alone and depressed as she stares at her drink.

Earlier, she was imagining she would meet someone
as she was getting dressed; now, she stares at her drink.

There are drunks all around. Everyone drinks absinthe.
Lower-class women love it best. They stare at the drink

(it’s a poison, literally; they could care less), as they pour  
it over sugar to cut its bitterness. They stare and drink.

Degas said he viewed women as if through a bathroom keyhole:
she gazes into her crystal ball’s green mist—stares, drinks.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781680030822
Publisher: Texas Review Press
Publication date: 07/14/2020
Series: 21st Century Poets , #17
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 80
File size: 669 KB

About the Author

STEPHEN GIBSON, born and raised in New York City, is the author of five previous full-length poetry collections, including Rorschach Art Too (2014 Donald Justice Prize), and a chapbook, Bodies in the Bog (TRP, 1983). He lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, with his wife Clorinda.

Table of Contents

Surreal 1

WW II 2

Fugu 3

H 4

Civil War Photography 5

X 6

Ancestry 7

Ice 8

Bath Water and a Lie 9

Nada 10

Rome 11

Ossuary 12

Cartes-de-visite 13

Pond 14

Spirit Photos 15

Eggs 16

Degas 17

Goat 18

Killers 19

Pricks 20

Tweets 21

Ubi Sunt 22

Irish-American 23

Eggplant 24

Martyrs 25

Portraits 26

Beds 27

Li Po in Civil War Photography 28

Ages 29

Presences 30

Old Photos 31

Looking at World War II Photos in City Place Barnes and Noble 32

Judas Goat "with Manhattan Skyline 33

V 34

YouTube Animals 35

Ut's Photo 36

Gulf 37

Times Square Yoga 38

KTLLERs 39

Q 40

Jane Doe 41

Vinegar 42

Meatloaf 43

Nineteenth Century Execution Photos 44

Death Plays a Trick on Amy Winehouse 45

Lamb Chops at the Paris Too Café, West Palm Beach 46

Scrambled Eggs 47

Pepper(s) 48

Z 49

Cadaver Synod 50

Art 51

American History Quiz Photos 52

Killers 53

Ghazal 54

Cribs 55

White 56

Births 57

What People are Saying About This

R.T. Smith

"From chinaberry trees and black widows to Pompeii and the Caymans, Ashley Mace Havird's The Garden of the Fugitives explores a storied terrain where secrets are brought to life, characters strive and suffer, history and myth blend, 'hawks razor' and life swarms. You can feel the instructive shadow of Heaney in her eye and ear, as the adventure of language is alwas evident, but this is also the poetry of experience, observation and rumination. Rite with dramas of consequence and memorable images, The Garden of the Fugitives is an accomplished collection of poems which earns its way line by line and accumulates force and delight as it unfolds."
—R.T. Smith, Final Judge 

John Dufresne

"In poems that are smart, witty, and understated, Havird looks closely at the world and sees what's there, not what's supposed to be there. Yet, at the same time, her poems don't so much describe our world as create a new world for us. Quite remarkable, really."
—John Dufresne, author of Love Wraps the mind a Little

Karen Swenson

"Ashley Mace Havird's poems are like dark chocolate: rich, strong, and bittersweet."
—Karen Swenson, author of A Daughter's Latitude: New and Selected Poems 

Eleanor Wilner

"Writing close to the bone, Ashley Mace Havird stares unflinchingly at what most people turn away from; hers is a spare, honed language that refuses to embellish truth with ornament. The echoing music and vivid imagery of her poems carry powerful emotions, but with a fine restraint whose understatement intensifies their ironies, their truth—like a taut spring that releases its charge in the mind."
—Eleanor Wilner, author of Reversing the Spell: New and Selected Poems 

Interviews


General readers of poety

From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of

Related Subjects

Poetry
American Poetry
Other American Poetry
Poetry
American Poetry
Other American Poetry

Customer Reviews