A Little Luck: Poems
Winner of The 2012 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, selected by Sandra Beasley

“In A Little Luck, Jeff Worley presents that rarest of commodities—a voice encyclopedic in its attentions, clever, self-aware, and deeply likeable. Worley’s humor throughout is dark and smart, his phrasings elegant. I would give A Little Luck to the reader who loves the work of Ted Kooser or Rodney Jones. I’d give this book to the reader who does not yet realize he loves poetry.”
—Sandra Beasley
Final Judge

THE DAY AFTER MY DEATH

—after lines by Michael Van Walleghen

The moon, stars and weather
will happen as they always have,

though surely with my breath gone
the wind, in some slight measure,

will falter. Absent my footsteps
the earth will feel along its spine

a momentary shiver of abandonment.
And my friends?  Won’t they gather

with me again, in whatever purple-
swagged room, for wine and stories,

some of them nearly impossibly true?
Meanwhile, the mailman, humming

like a bee in a blossom, will slip
my name into the metal box:

an unsigned note from The Paris Review
saying, simply, Sorry.

 
1115520573
A Little Luck: Poems
Winner of The 2012 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, selected by Sandra Beasley

“In A Little Luck, Jeff Worley presents that rarest of commodities—a voice encyclopedic in its attentions, clever, self-aware, and deeply likeable. Worley’s humor throughout is dark and smart, his phrasings elegant. I would give A Little Luck to the reader who loves the work of Ted Kooser or Rodney Jones. I’d give this book to the reader who does not yet realize he loves poetry.”
—Sandra Beasley
Final Judge

THE DAY AFTER MY DEATH

—after lines by Michael Van Walleghen

The moon, stars and weather
will happen as they always have,

though surely with my breath gone
the wind, in some slight measure,

will falter. Absent my footsteps
the earth will feel along its spine

a momentary shiver of abandonment.
And my friends?  Won’t they gather

with me again, in whatever purple-
swagged room, for wine and stories,

some of them nearly impossibly true?
Meanwhile, the mailman, humming

like a bee in a blossom, will slip
my name into the metal box:

an unsigned note from The Paris Review
saying, simply, Sorry.

 
15.99 In Stock
A Little Luck: Poems

A Little Luck: Poems

by Jeff Worley
A Little Luck: Poems

A Little Luck: Poems

by Jeff Worley

eBook1 (1)

$15.99 

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Overview

Winner of The 2012 X. J. Kennedy Poetry Prize, selected by Sandra Beasley

“In A Little Luck, Jeff Worley presents that rarest of commodities—a voice encyclopedic in its attentions, clever, self-aware, and deeply likeable. Worley’s humor throughout is dark and smart, his phrasings elegant. I would give A Little Luck to the reader who loves the work of Ted Kooser or Rodney Jones. I’d give this book to the reader who does not yet realize he loves poetry.”
—Sandra Beasley
Final Judge

THE DAY AFTER MY DEATH

—after lines by Michael Van Walleghen

The moon, stars and weather
will happen as they always have,

though surely with my breath gone
the wind, in some slight measure,

will falter. Absent my footsteps
the earth will feel along its spine

a momentary shiver of abandonment.
And my friends?  Won’t they gather

with me again, in whatever purple-
swagged room, for wine and stories,

some of them nearly impossibly true?
Meanwhile, the mailman, humming

like a bee in a blossom, will slip
my name into the metal box:

an unsigned note from The Paris Review
saying, simply, Sorry.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781937875428
Publisher: Texas Review Press
Publication date: 05/12/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 80
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

JEFF WORLEY’S first book, The Only Time There Is, won the Mid-List Press First-Book Poetry Prize, and his second book from Mid-List, Happy Hour at the Two Keys Tavern, was named 2006 Kentucky Book of the Year in Poetry.  Now retired from the University of Kentucky, he lives in Lexington with his wife, Linda.

Table of Contents

I
  • 1947
  • Embracing the Literal
  • On My 13th Birthday My Mother Convinces My Father to Sit Down with me and Discuss the Facts of Life
  • Last at Bat, Texas League Playoffs, 1961
  • So You Want to Be a Teaching Assistant in English
  • Loaded
  • Letter I Never Sent My Father
II
  • First Night after Retirement
  • Star-Nosed Mole
  • Ode to a Possum
  • Another 8-to-5 on the Porch of Our Cave Run Lake Cabin
  • What I Believe
  • On Finding a Turtle Shell in Daniel Boone National Forest
  • Cowbirds
  • Educating Crow
III
  • Duck Poem
  • Why I Love My Wife
  • Summer Sleet
  • Ambergris Caye
  • The News
  • Now and Then
  • Reckless
  • How to Write a Sad Poem
  • Goodbye
IV
  • The Bird behind Our Living Room Wall
  • Reading Poetry at Dusk
  • A Small Commotion of Air
  • When I Have Missed Them Too Long
  • Wrap It Up!
  • Evening Visit
  • The Day after My Death
  • Unlocked, 2047

What People are Saying About This

Sandra Beasley

"In A Little Luck, Jeff Worley presents that rarest of commodities—a voice encyclopedic in its attentions, clever, self-aware, and deeply likeable. Worley's humor throughout is dark and smart, his phrasings elegant. I would give A Little Luck to the reader who loves the work of Ted Kooser or Rodney Jones. I'd give this book to the reader who does not yet realize he loves poetry."
Sandra Beasley, Final Judge

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Lexington, Kentucky

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