Overview

Geraldine Connolly's Instructions at Sunset instructs us about why we love poetry-the sensuality evoked throughout by the warmth of the sun, the scent of underbrush, and the simmer of dinner on the stove-images gifted us so we also live these rare moments. And surprises, too, when Connolly's noticing transforms suddenly into meaning, and we draw a breath. Many poets rely on ""the pain-of-the-past"" for deep feelings, but this is a book about the present, the startling brilliant present, caught exactly as it happens, for the reader to know the splendor of living in the best possible air. -Grace Cavalieri, Maryland's tenth Poet Laureate

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9781947896857

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Reviews

Connolly is a poet who dwells in nature. She examines the world through the magnifying glass of observation and the lens of imagination. In awe of ""the crystal axe of winter,"" she thrills to two red foxes, their ""tails on fire."" The sun blazes through these poems, highlighting the small miracles that grab the poet's attention-the lake where ""minnows shuddered"" under the water, the desert ""with its brown crust,"" and the forest with its ""sky the color of bruised doves."" -Elaine Terranova, Rinse Geraldine Connolly's latest collection is a beguiling mix of fable, landscape painting, and nighttime imagery, celebrating abundance and whispering of mortality. There are cicada husks ""from death ships"" staring with ruby eyes and celebrators of the Day of the Dead ""wearing the hats and cufflinks of the departed"" and trying to erase the disappearance of loved ones. Connolly observes her world closely, and her book paints its careful portrait masterfully. To read it is to ""summon the rest of your life to its feet."" -Tina Kelley, Rise Wildly

Author Information

Geraldine Connolly is the author of four earlier poetry books, Food for the Winter, Province of Fire, Hand of the Wind, and Aileron. Her work has appeared in a variety of literary journals, including Poetry, Shenandoah, the Georgia Review, and the Gettysburg Review. She is the recipient of two NEA fellowships, a Maryland Arts Council fellowship, and a Cafritz Foundation grant. Her work has been broadcast on WPFW radio and featured on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. She was executive editor of Poet Lore from 1994 to 2000 and has taught workshops for the the Maryland Poetry-in-the-Schools Program and the Graduate Writing Program at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC. She now lives in Alameda, California.

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