Her book
also by éireann lorsung
Music for Landing Planes By
Her book
poems
éireann lorsung
MILKWEED EDITIONS
© 2013, Text by Éireann Lorsung
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher:
Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415.
(800) 520-6455
Published 2013 by Milkweed Editions
Cover design by Gretchen Achilles/Wavetrap Design
Cover art © Kiki Smith and Universal Limited Art Editions, Inc.
Author photo by Jonathan Vanhaelst
13 14 15 16 17 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Bush Foundation; the Patrick and Aimee Butler Foundation; the Dougherty Family Foundation; the Driscoll Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lorsung, Éireann, 1980-
[Poems. Selections]
Her book : poems / Éireann Lorsung.—First edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-57131-879-4
I. Title.
PS3612.O77H47 2013 2012042168
811›.6—dc23
Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the world’s endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Her book was printed on acid-free 30% postconsumer-waste paper by Versa Press, Inc.
for Z.C.L.C., S.Y. & L.D.
Contents
1. Fifteen poems for Kiki Smith
Carrier (standing woman carrying wolf)
It falls into ruin by its own weight
Dowry cloth
Honey brain
The cells—the moon
Familiars
Stars and scat
Blue blanket
2. Girllife
First principles
Historical fragment
Pink
A collection of beauties at the height of their popularity
And so the last day came, and the last hour of the last day
Bee summer
City pleasure
England, or the continent I had in mind when I came here
Sweets
Live bees
The birdwoman at Grasmere
Smooth stone, fox
How it all began
Historical fragment
The birdwoman in the cathedral
International postage coupon
Bird construction
Honey
3. Reconstruction
Autoportrait tree
Post
Think on the lilies of the field
Listening to other people’s praying
Creation tune
Sewing together
Quilt with birds
Eating the archive
Single-page drawing
Transubstantiation
Her book
after Kiki Smith
From inside all this hair I can see you.
The body on the ground,
on its own, is resurrection. Female,
that’s a question of creation.
Some days hair is miles of messages
meant for pre-Morse receivers,
bare scratching of another’s hand
on vellum that looks like skin.
The body inside