Best American Poetry 2018

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Best American Poetry 2018 Page 18

by David Lehman

CHRISTIAN WIMAN was born in West Texas in 1966. He is the author, editor, and translator of numerous books, including Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016) and Joy: 100 Poems (Yale University Press, 2017). He teaches at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School.

  Of “Assembly,” Wiman writes: “What is the point of poetry when the world is going to hell? I asked that question in an essay several years ago, but it has become even more urgent to me recently, now that the demons have taken off their masks and every day’s news is a storm of slime and vileness. It surprises me, then, to find that my hope for poetry has actually increased—or perhaps simply hardened—right along with my rage. This is a poem of despair, but I hope its despair is prophetic rather than futile, furious and galvanizing rather than recessive and resigned. Faith in language is faith enough in times like these.”

  MAGAZINES WHERE THE POEMS WERE FIRST PUBLISHED

  * * *

  Academic Questions, poetry ed. Felicia Sanzari Chernesky. www.nas.org/projects/projects_academic_questions

  The Adroit Journal, poetry eds. Jesse De Angelis, Lisa Hiton, Jackson Holbert, and Talin Tahajian. www.theadroitjournal.org

  Ambit, poetry eds. Ralf Webb, Imogen Cassels, and Ruby Silk. www.ambitmagazine.co.uk

  America, poetry ed. Joseph Hoover, SJ. www.americamagazine.org

  The American Journal of Poetry, ed. Robert Nazarene, senior ed. James Wilson. www.theamericanjournalofpoetry.com

  The American Poetry Review, ed. Elizabeth Scanlon. www.aprweb.org

  The Antioch Review, poetry ed. Judith Hall. http://review.antiochcollege.org/antioch-review-home-page

  The Atlantic, poetry ed. David Barber. www.theatlantic.com

  Bennington Review, ed. Michael Dumanis. www.benningtonreview.org

  Birmingham Poetry Review, ed. Adam Vines. www.uab.edu/cas/englishpublications/bpr

  BuzzFeed, executive ed., culture, Saeed Jones. www.buzzfeed.com/reader

  Catamaran, poetry eds. Catherine Segurson and Zack Rogow. www.catamaranliteraryreader.com

  Colorado Review, poetry eds. Donald Revell, Sasha Steensen, and Matthew Cooperman. www.coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-review

  The Common, poetry ed. John Hennessy. www.thecommononline.org

  Copper Nickel, poetry eds. Brian Barker and Nicky Beer. www.copper-nickel.org

  The Dark Horse, eds. Gerry Cambridge with Jennifer Goodrich and Marcia Menter. www.thedarkhorsemagazine.com

  Denver Quarterly, poetry ed. Bin Ramke. www.du.edu/denverquarterly

  Ecotone, poetry ed. Hunter Hobbs. www.ecotonemagazine.org

  Fifth Wednesday Journal, eds. James Ballowe, Nina Corwin, and Susan Azar Porterfield. www.fifthwednesdayjournal.com

  First Things, poetry ed. Paul Lake. www.firstthings.com

  Green Mountains Review, ed. Elizabeth Powell, poetry ed. Didi Jackson. www.greenmountainsreview.com

  Gulf Coast, poetry eds. Daniel Chu, Aza Pace, and Chelsea B. DesAutels. www.gulfcoastmag.org

  The Hopkins Review, poetry ed. Greg Williamson. www.hopkinsreview.jhu.edu

  The Hudson Review, ed. Paula Deitz. www.hudsonreview.com

  The Literary Review, poetry eds. Craig Morgan Teicher and Michael Morse. www.theliteraryreview.org

  Met Magazine, ed. Ian Christon. www2.mmu.ac.uk/metmagazine

  Modern Haiku, ed. Paul Miller. www.modernhaiku.org

  Narrative, poetry ed. Michael Wiegers. www.narrativemagazine.com

  The Nation, poetry eds. Stephanie Burt and Carmen Giménez Smith. www.thenation.com

  The New Criterion, poetry ed. David Yezzi. www.newcriterion.com

  New England Review, poetry ed. Rick Barot. www.nereview.com

  The New York Times Magazine, selected by Matthew Zapruder. www.nytimes.com/section/magazine

  The New Yorker, poetry ed. Kevin Young. www.newyorker.com

  The Paris Review, poetry ed. Robyn Creswell. www.theparisreview.org

  Parnassus: Poetry in Review, ed. Herbert Leibowitz. www.parnassusreview.com

  Plume, editor-in-chief Daniel Lawless. www.plumepoetry.com

  Poet Lore, eds. Jody Bolz and E. Ethelbert Miller. www.poetlore.com

  Poetry, ed. Don Share. www.poetryfoundation.org

  Presence, ed. Mary Ann Buddenberg Miller with Lois Roma-Deeley and Marjorie Maddox. www.catholicpoetryjournal.com

  Raritan, editor-in-chief Jackson Lears. www.raritanquarterly.rutgers.edu

  Rattle, eds. Alan Fox and Timothy Green. www.rattle.com

  Resistance, Rebellion, Life: 50 Poems Now (Knopf, 2017), ed. Amit Majmudar

  Seneca Review, eds. David Weiss, Geoffrey Babbitt, and Kathryn Cowles. www.hws.edu/senecareview

  The Sewanee Review, poetry ed. Robert Walker. www.thesewaneereview.com

  Smartish Pace, ed. Stephen Reichert. www.smartishpace.com

  The Southern Review, poetry ed. Jessica Faust. www.thesouthernreview.org

  Southern Poetry Review, ed. James Smith. www.southernpoetryreview.com

  Southwest Review, editor-in-chief Greg Brownderville. www.smu.edu/SouthwestReview

  Southword, ed. Patrick Cotter. www.munsterlit.ie/Southword

  The Sun, poetry ed. Carol Ann Fitzgerald. www.thesunmagazine.org

  Think Journal, ed. David J. Rothman. www.think-journal.submittable.com

  The Threepenny Review, ed. Wendy Lesser. www.threepennyreview.com

  Tin House, poetry ed. Camille T. Dungy. www.tinhouse.com

  Virginia Quarterly Review, poetry ed. Gregory Pardlo. www.vqronline.org

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  * * *

  The series editor thanks Mark Bibbins for his invaluable assistance. Warm thanks go also to Stacey Harwood, Thomas Moody, and Virginia Valenzuela; to Glen Hartley and Lynn Chu of Writers’ Representatives; and to Ashley Gilliam, David Stanford Burr, Daniel Cuddy, Erich Hobbing, and Patrick Weir at Scribner.

  Grateful acknowledgment is made of the publications in which these poems first appeared and the editors who selected them. A sincere attempt has been made to locate all copyright holders. Unless otherwise noted, copyright to the poems is held by the individual poets.

  Allison Adair, “Miscarriage” from Southwest Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Kaveh Akbar, “Against Dying” from Calling a Wolf a Wolf © 2017 by Kaveh Akbar. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Alice James Books. Also appeared in Tin House.

  Julia Alvarez, “American Dreams” from America. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  A. R. Ammons, “Finishing Up” from The Complete Poems of A. R. Ammons: Volume 2, 1978–2005 © 2017 by the Estate of A. R. Ammons. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Co. Also appeared in Poetry.

  David Barber, “Sherpa Song” from Southwest Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Andrew Bertaina, “A Translator’s Note” from The Threepenny Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Frank Bidart, “Mourning What We Thought We Were” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Bruce Bond, “Anthem” from Denver Quarterly. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  George Bradley, “Those Were the Days” from Raritan. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Joyce Clement, “Birds Punctuate the Days” from Modern Haiku. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Brendan Constantine, “The Opposites Game” from The American Journal of Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Maryann Corbett, “Prayer Concerning the New, More ‘Accurate’ Translation of Certain Prayers” from Rattle. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Robert Cording, “Toast to My Dead Parents” from The Sewanee Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Cynthia Cruz, “Artaud” from Bennington Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Dick Davis, “A Personal Sonnet” from The Hudson Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Warren Decker, “Today’s Special” from T
hink Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Susan de Sola, “The Wives of the Poets” from The Dark Horse. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Dante Di Stefano, “Reading Dostoyevsky at Seventeen” from Met Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Nausheen Eusuf, “Pied Beauty” from Birmingham Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Jonathan Galassi, “Orient Epithalamion” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Jessica Goodfellow, “Test” from The Southern Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Sonia Greenfield, “Ghost Ship” from Rattle. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Joy Harjo, “An American Sunrise” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Terrance Hayes, “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” from American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin © 2018 by Terrance Hayes. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Random House. Also appeared in The New Yorker.

  Ernest Hilbert, “Mars Ultor” from Academic Questions. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  R. Nemo Hill, “The View from The Bar” from The Hopkins Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Tony Hoagland, “Into the Mystery” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Anna Maria Hong, “Yonder, a Rental” from Ecotone. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Paul Hoover, “I Am the Size of What I See” from Fifth Wednesday Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Marie Howe, “Walking Home” from Magdalene © 2017 by Marie Howe. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Co. Also appeared in The New York Times Magazine.

  Mandy Kahn, “Ives” from Glenn Gould’s Chair © 2017 by Mandy Kahn. Reprinted by permission of Eyewear Publishing. Also appeared in Ambit.

  Ilya Kaminsky, “We Lived Happily During the War” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Stephen Kampa, “The Quiet Boy” from Birmingham Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Donika Kelly, “Love Poem: Chimera” from Bestiary © 2016 by Donika Kelly. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press. Also appeared in Gulf Coast.

  Suji Kwock Kim, “Sono” from Southword. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Karl Kirchwey, “Palazzo Maldura” from Plume. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Nate Klug, “Aconite” from Raritan. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Robin Coste Lewis, “Using Black to Paint Light” from Gulf Coast. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  David Mason, “First Christmas in the Village” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Robert Morgan, “Window” from Southern Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Aimee Nezhukumatathil, “Invitation” from Oceanic © 2018 by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Copper Canyon Press. Also appeared in Poetry.

  Hieu Minh Nguyen, “B.F.F.” from Not Here © 2018 by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Coffee House Press. Also appeared in BuzzFeed.

  Alfred Nicol, “Addendum” from First Things. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Nkosi Nkululeko, “Skin Deep” from The Adroit Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Sheana Ochoa, “Hands” from Catamaran. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Sharon Olds, “Silver Spoon Ode” from The Nation. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Jacqueline Osherow, “Tilia cordata” from The Antioch Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Mike Owens, “Sad Math” from The Way Back © 2017 by Mike Owens. Reprinted by permission of Random Lane Press.

  Elise Paschen, “The Week Before She Died” from The Nightlife © 2017 by Elise Paschen. Reprinted by permission of Red Hen Press. Also appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review.

  Jessica Piazza, “Bells’ Knells” from Smartish Pace. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Aaron Poochigian, “Happy Birthday, Herod” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Ruben Quesada, “Angels in the Sun” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Alexandra Lytton Regalado, “La Mano” from Matria © 2017 by Alexandra Lytton Regalado. Reprinted by permission of Black Lawrence Press. Also appeared in Green Mountains Review.

  Paisley Rekdal, “Philomela” from Narrative. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Michael Robbins, “Walkman” from The Paris Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  J. Allyn Rosser, “Personae Who Got Loose” from Copper Nickel. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Mary Ruefle, “Genesis” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Kay Ryan, “Some Transcendent Addiction to the Useless” from Parnassus: Poetry in Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Mary Jo Salter, “We’ll Always Have Parents” from The Surveyors © 2017 by Mary Jo Salter. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf. Also appeared in The Common.

  Jason Schneiderman, “Voxel” from The Literary Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Nicole Sealey, “A Violence” from Ordinary Beast © 2017 by Nicole Sealey. Reprinted by permission of Ecco/HarperCollins. Also appeared in The New Yorker.

  Michael Shewmaker, “Advent” from The Sewanee Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Carmen Giménez Smith, “Dispatch from Midlife” from Colorado Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Tracy K. Smith, “An Old Story” from Wade in the Water © 2018 by Tracy K. Smith. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press. Also appeared in The Nation.

  Gary Snyder, “Why California Will Never Be Like Tuscany” from Catamaran. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  A. E. Stallings, “Pencil” from The Atlantic. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Anne Stevenson, “How Poems Arrive” from The Hudson Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Adrienne Su, “Substitutions” from New England Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Natasha Trethewey, “Shooting Wild” from Poet Lore. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Agnieszka Tworek, “Grief Runs Untamed” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  G. C. Waldrep, “Dear Office in Which I Must Account for Tears,” from Seneca Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Wang Ping, “Lao Jia” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  James Matthew Wilson, “On a Palm” from Presence. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Ryan Wilson, “Face It” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

  Christian Wiman, “Assembly” from Resistance, Rebellion, Life. Reprinted by permission of the poet.

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  ABOUT THE EDITORS

  * * *

  Guest editor DANA GIOIA is an internationally acclaimed poet and critic. Former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Gioia won the 2018 Poets’ Prize for his collection 99 Poems: New & Selected and currently serves as the Poet Laureate of California.

  Series editor DAVID LEHMAN is the author of Poems in the Manner Of, Sinatra’s Century, and The Daily Mirror. The editor of The Oxford Book of American Poetry, he lives in New York City and in Ithaca, New York.

  MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT

  SimonandSchuster.com

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Dana-Gioia

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/David-Lehman
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  @ScribnerBooks

  OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES

  John Ashbery, editor, The Best American Poetry 1988

  Donald Hall, editor, The Best American Poetry 1989

  Jorie Graham, editor, The Best American Poetry 1990

  Mark Strand, editor, The Best American Poetry 1991

  Charles Simic, editor, The Best American Poetry 1992

  Louise Glück, editor, The Best American Poetry 1993

  A. R. Ammons, editor, The Best American Poetry 1994

  Richard Howard, editor, The Best American Poetry 1995

  Adrienne Rich, editor, The Best American Poetry 1996

  James Tate, editor, The Best American Poetry 1997

  Harold Bloom, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988–1997

  John Hollander, editor, The Best American Poetry 1998

  Robert Bly, editor, The Best American Poetry 1999

  Rita Dove, editor, The Best American Poetry 2000

  Robert Hass, editor, The Best American Poetry 2001

  Robert Creeley, editor, The Best American Poetry 2002

  Yusef Komunyakaa, editor, The Best American Poetry 2003

  Lyn Hejinian, editor, The Best American Poetry 2004

  Paul Muldoon, editor, The Best American Poetry 2005

  Billy Collins, editor, The Best American Poetry 2006

  Heather McHugh, editor, The Best American Poetry 2007

  Charles Wright, editor, The Best American Poetry 2008

  David Wagoner, editor, The Best American Poetry 2009

  Amy Gerstler, editor, The Best American Poetry 2010

  Kevin Young, editor, The Best American Poetry 2011

  Mark Doty, editor, The Best American Poetry 2012

  Robert Pinsky, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry: 25th Anniversary Edition

  Denise Duhamel, editor, The Best American Poetry 2013

  Terrance Hayes, editor, The Best American Poetry 2014

  Sherman Alexie, editor, The Best American Poetry 2015

  Edward Hirsch, editor, The Best American Poetry 2016

 

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