In the Time of the Present (Native American Series) [Paperback]

Maurice Kenny (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 31, 2000 | Series: Native American Series

This new collection of poetry from Maurice Kenny explores identity, honors nature, and celebrates everyday life. Modern life is described, while Native American culture is glimpsed, ghost-like, on the margins. Natural bounty-flowers, fruits-is extolled and welcomed. The simplest things-the arrival of the first blueberries or a field of dandelions-are praised with gratitude. Friendships, letters, love lost and found are all treated with reverence and delicacy. Spirituality as a way of life, respect for nature, sharing with others within an extended family, living in the present-these traditional Native values are represented in Kenny's work. These poems are the essence of a Native American way of life.  
 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Maurice Kenny, Mohawk, is an internationally renowned writer of poetry, fiction, and plays. Maurice's book of poems, Blackrobe: Isaac Jogues, B. March 11, 1607, D. October 18, 1646 was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, as was Between Two Rivers. He is the recipient of a National Public Radio Award for Broadcasting. His book The Mama Poems received the American Book Award in 1984. The Bloomsbury Review cited Wounds Beneath the Flesh as the best anthology of 1983. Maurice's work has been published in almost 100 journals, including special issues on Native American writing such as Trends, the Scottish journal from Paisley College, the Calaloo special issue on Native American writing, and World Literature Today. Other journals include American Indian Quarterly, Blue Cloud Quarterly, Wicazo Sa Review, Saturday Review, and the New York Times.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Letter About Guilt from California to the Snow Country

Last week, rain fell in a rage,
dragging its muddy hair over the hills.
Flood waters rose, walls and roofs caved in,
redwoods slid and buried lovers in their beds.
Now this warm Monday, sun
spreads out in the pasture and I've peeled back
my clothes to the skin. A coyote
straggles from the manzanita grove and monarchs
dry their wings over the poppies.

Friend, halfway across the country, you suffer
a different climate. Where you are, firemen
wear coats of ice and water freezes
when it hits the burning building. On Lake Michigan
waves break in crystals against the churning boat.
--But I'm trying to speak of guilt, how I
stayed dry, how I'm stealing warmth
from this winter. I'm thinking about that cardinal
singing in your snow-covered pine tree.

Santa Cruz, Calif.

Product Details

• Paperback: 131 pages
• Publisher: Michigan State University Press (May 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870135465
• ISBN-13: 978-0870135460
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,189,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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