The Glaze from Breaking
by Joanne Merriam

Stride Publications, 2005 ISBN 1-905024-00-2 The dreadlocks of polar bears; the atomized droplets of an underground waterfall; oranges as an offering to the dead; a purple hippopotamus wading pool in a strip club; hoar frost and aurora borealis and bail bondsmen and road kill: Joanne Merriam's inaugural collection of poetry catalogues morsels of experience. The Glaze from Breaking overflows with lovely, vivid poems about the aftermath of a breakup, and the redemptive power of travel, nature and love. Her language charged with verbal energy, Merriam has crafted a moving portrait of a woman who is saved by her close observation of the everyday wonders of the world. This book is out of print. See reviews. See excerpts.

Table of Contents

I ...explosion of wings

Tighten to Bruise    9
The Kiss    14
Sealed in Nectar    15
As If    17
Bodies Make Poor Lenses    18
Auto Biographies    19
The Villain in the Piece    20
A Taste for Guilt    21
Lady Day on the Radio    22
Out Of It    23
And the Ways of Men    24
Long Weekend    25
Things I'd Have Thought You Were Crazy If You'd Told Me Then I'd Be Doing Them Now    26
Cunt    28
Eight Ways To Think About Happiness    29
Why Wait to Believe?    37

II ...calendar of dreams

January    41
February    42
March    43
April    44
May    45
June    46
July    47
August    48
September    49
October    50
November    51
December    52

III ...feathers into cloth

With Every Step    55
Every Day 600 Miles Further From Home    57
Crow Perching on Telephone Wire    65
Traveler's Anecdote    66
Glorybower    67
Footprints Drying on the Stairs    68
Guest Room    69
Re Member Ies    70
Personal    71
Things that Happened in My Absence    73
Here    74
The Ghost Road    76

Thanks    77
Notes    78