No Matter the Wreckage

by Sarah Kay, Sophia Janowitz (Illustrator)

Overview

"Sarah Kay is a fearsomely open and generous talent. In this collection she will give you moments so intimate and beautifully rendered you will come to know them as your own. An unalloyed joy from beginning to end." - Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist of Broadway's In the Heights

"Nowhere have I found such humble honesty laced with such beauty. Nowhere, such boundless grace. Sarah Kay writes with a particular and rare magic, evoking emotions we may have forgotten we possess. No Matter the Wreckage is both spare and dense, uproarious and healing. An enchanting collection, imbued with courage, wisdom, lament, and triumph." - Jeanann Verlee, Author of Racing Hummingbirds

* 2011 TED speaker (recording has been viewed 3 million times online)
* First book, "B" was ranked #1 Bestselling Poetry Book on Amazon
* Featured on HBO, American Public Radio, Huffington Post, CNN.com
* Founder and Co-Director of Project VOICE

Following the success of her breakout poem, "B", Sarah Kay, in collaboration with illustrator Sophia Janowitz, released her debut collection of poetry featuring work from the first decade of her career.

"Forgive yourself for the decisions you have made, the ones you still call mistakes when you tuck them in at night"

No Matter the Wreckage presents readers with new and beloved poetry that showcases Kay's talent for celebrating family, love, travel, and unlikely romance between inanimate objects ("The Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire"). Both fresh and wise, Kay's poetry allows readers to join her on the journey of discovering herself and the world around her. It is an honest and powerful collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938912481
Publisher:	Write Bloody Publishing
Publication date:	03/18/2014
Pages:	100
Sales rank:	97,552
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

SARAH KAY IS:
A New Yorker. The founder and co-director of Project VOICE. A playwright. A best-selling author of four books of poetry including B, No Matter the Wreckage, The Type, and All Our Wild Wonder. She has performed in over 25 countries. An editor for Write Bloody Publishing. A Gemini. The daughter of a Taoist mother and a Brooklynese father. A hapa. An alum of the United Nations International School and a graduate of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program. An alum of Brown University. An alum of Brown University Graduate School's Masters Program in the Art of Teaching Secondary English. A recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Grinnell College.

SARAH KAY WAS:
A speaker at the TED Conference, “The Rediscovery of Wonder” in Long Beach, CA. A writer in residence at Hedgebrook. A Kundiman fellow. A Serenbe artist in residence. The artist in residence of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. the youngest honored speaker in the 34 year history of the Willis M. Tate Distinguished Lecture Series at Southern Methodist University. Featured on the CNN, HBO Def Poetry Jam. She has performed at Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Tribeca Film Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Nantucket Project, the Apollo Theater, the Royal Danish Theatre, among hundreds more. She is an education advocate and keynote speaker for education organizations like NAIS, ECIS, AISA, and IBO, among others.

Read an Excerpt

“Love is not who you were expecting, love is not who you can predict. Maybe love is in New York City, already asleep; You are in California, Australia, wide awake. Maybe love is always in the wrong time zone. Maybe love is not ready for you. Maybe you are not ready for love. Maybe love just isn't the marrying type. Maybe the next time you see love is twenty years after the divorce, love is older now, but just as beautiful as you remembered. Maybe love is only there for a month. Maybe love is there for every firework, every birthday party, every hospital visit. Maybe love stays- maybe love can't. Maybe love shouldn't.

Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to,

And love leaves exactly when love must.

When love arrives, say, “Welcome. Make yourself comfortable.”

If love leaves, ask her to leave the door open behind her.

Turn off the music, listen to the quiet, whisper,

“Thank you for stopping by.”

Table of Contents

I

Love Poem #137 15

Subway 16

The Oak Tree Speaks 17

The Toothbrush to the Bicycle Tire 19

New York, June 2009 20

The First Poem in the Imaginary Book 22

Mrs. Bjbeiro 23

II

Montauk 29

My Parents on their Way Home from a Wedding 31

Slivers 32

Brother 34

Hands 36

III

Jellyfish 41

Evaporate 43

The Ladder 44

Bricklayer 45

Forest Fires 46

Poppy 48

Something We Don't Talk About, Part I 49

Dragons 50

Hand-Me-Downs 51

IV

Shosholoza 57

India Trio 60

Jetlag 62

Paws 63

The Shirt 65

Boom 66

Grace 67

V

Until 71

Scissors 72

Something We Don't Talk About, Part II 73

The Moves 74

Postcards 75

Hiroshima 77

VI

Extended Development 83

Questions and Answers, in No Particular Order 86

Loose Threads 87

Private Parts 88

Another Missing 90

The Call 91

Flight 93

VII

B 97

And Found 99

Winter Without You 100

Corey's Turn 101

Witness 103

Yolk 104

Accidents 105

VIII

Peacocks 111

On Being Prepared 114

On the Discomfort of Being in the Same Room as the Boy You Like 116

Here and Now 117

Open 118

A Place to Put Our Hands 119

Today's Poem 120

IX

Ghost Ship 125

Lightning 128

The Type 129

Astronaut 131

The Paradox 132

In the Event of an Emergency 133

Notes 137

Credits 141

Acknowledgments 142

About the Author 143

About the Illustrator 143