Sonnets with Two Torches and One Cliff

by Robert Thomas

Overview

A fresh and modern take on one of the most classic poetic forms in the Western literary tradition.
 
“What if creatures in other galaxies / have a vague sense that something is missing, / but don’t know it’s Little Richard, Shakespeare, / and cornbread with plum jam?” In this collection, Robert Thomas presents eighty nontraditional sonnets that explore love and jealousy—the traditional obsessions of sonnets—from nontraditional angles. Other galaxies are jealous of Earth in these heartbreaking, funny, ecstatic, profound, and never boring poems.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780887486913
Publisher:	Carnegie-Mellon University Press
Publication date:	02/21/2023
Series:	Carnegie Mellon University Press Poetry Series
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Robert Thomas’s novella Bridge received the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Fiction. His first poetry collection, Door to Door, was selected by Yusef Komunyakaa for the Poets Out Loud Prize, and his second, Dragging the Lake, was published by Carnegie Mellon University Press. He has received an NEA Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize, and he lives with his wife in Oakland, California.
 

Table of Contents

Sonnet with Backpack and Jack 13

Sonnet Without Mark or Manger 14

Sonnet with Mozart and Bear 15

Sonnet with Goldfish and Proxima Centauri 16

Sonnet with Blowtorch and Brat 17

Sonnet with Stepmother and Flying Horses 18

Sonnet with Neon and Lamb 19

Sonnet with Rain Dance and Gitanes 20

Sonnet with Two Maggies and a Riverboat 21

Sonnet with Zipper and Bioluminescence 22

Sonnet with Purgatory and Scratch 23

Sonnet with Bark and Flood 24

Sonnet with Lavender and Chowder 25

Sonnet with Goldfinch and Peat 26

Sonnet with Ghost Writer and Syringe 27

Sonnet with Post-its and Johnny Depp 28

Sonnet with Abalone and Glue 29

Sonnet with Blizzard and Glass Lizard 30

Sonnet with Ice Hockey and Night Goggles 31

Sonnet with Venison and Frigg 32

Sonnet with Storm Drain and Thyme 33

Sonnet with Two Torches and One Cliff 34

Sonnet with Fish and Bayonet 35

Sonnet with Earthquake and Vermouth 36

Sonnet with Blue Sphere and Ruby, My Dear 37

Sonnet with Ham and Rose 38

Sonnet with Mud and Pillow 39

Sonnet with Juicer and Prism 40

Sonnet with Emergency Room and Skillet 41

Sonnet with Used Car and Julia Child 42

Sonnet with Lamb and Last Judgment 43

Sonnet with Sign and Romansch Languages 44

Sonnet with Warm Milk and Shovel 45

Sonnet with Toothpick and Street Fair 46

Sonnet with Clerk and Genghis Khan 47

Sonnet with Aioli and Roux 48

Sonnet with Swan and Long Tall Sally 49

Sonnet with Splinters and Veronicas 50

Sonnet with Slings and Sliders 51

Sonnet with Maenad and Kiln 52

Sonnet with Hedge Fund and Trout 53

Sonnet with Q-tip and Fugue 54

Sonnet with Acne and Hawk 55

Sonnet with Ink and Gazelles 56

Sonnet with Schlock and Yonder 57

Sonnet with Death and Red-Checked Tablecloth 58

Sonnet with Mouth and Stone 59

Sonnet with Oven and Green Nets 60

Sonnet with Pizza and Revelation 61

Sonnet with Harvest and Sizzle 62

Sonnet with Aurora and Aurelia 63

Sonnet with Rubies and Strip 64

Sonnet with Hound and Sequins 65

Sonnet with Crush and Mustard 66

Sonnet with Ribs and Obelisk 67

Sonnet with Quartz and Rice 68

Sonnet with Taqueria and Fishtail 69

Sonnet with Anarchist and Red Onion 70

Sonnet with Zinc and Rhododendrons 71

Sonnet with Dock and Depot 72

Sonnet with Sappho and Wrecking Yard 73

Sonnet with Jackhammer and ACLU 74

Sonnet with Jury and Sunset 75

Sonnet with Lobster and Priest 76

Sonnet with Sword and Petticoat 77

Negligee and Hatchet: A Sonnet Crown

Sonnet with Blackberries and Clocks 78

Sonnet with Sump and Sourdough 79

Sonnet with Seashell and Chinatown 80

Sonnet with Ark and Tug 81

Sonnet with Vespers and Machine Tools 82

Sonnet with Ochre and Aurochs 83

Sonnet with Jokes and Car Jack 84

Sonnet with Barn Dance and Solar Storm 85

Sonnet with Squeegee and Cracker Jack 86

Sonnet with Zombie and Zoot Suit 87

Sonnet Without Jukebox or Fox 88

Sonnet with Hard Rain and Spreadsheet 89

Sonnet with Velvet and Buck 90

Sonnet with Oak and Aspen 91

Sonnet with Negligee and Hatchet 92

Notes 95

Editorial Reviews

"A formally constrained poem that brilliantly manages to sound anything but. A paean to longing, to the mysteries of love and time and distance, 'Negligee and Hatchet,' as its title suggests, is full of contraries and surprises—swamp pop and Mick Jagger, grotto and tomb, Aphrodite and caramel corn . . . the poet’s language turns and dazzles with every line."

Kim Addonizio

"Irrepressible, seemingly inexhaustible in invention, this exhilarating poetic tour-de-force demonstrates that if you couple things that don’t go together at all, the sparks of their friction can set the mind on fire. Every sonnet night-dives off a different cliff, torches in hand--one more brilliant, observant, sardonic, intimate, provocative, hilariously meek, than the next; each a metaphoric misalliance creating fresh discoveries, including the infinite ways in which 'no one is ever loved as they deserve.'"

Eleanor Wilner