The Moon Makes Its Own Plea is a departure from Mnookin’s previous books, What He Took and To Get Here. Rather than considering a single experience that transforms her perception of her world, in her new book Mnookin explores the idea of self and how that self is strengthened and abraded by relationships. Although the book is anchored in everyday life, the narrative is fluid, making greater use of associative thinking. The poems in this book coalesce around the condition of mortality—not a specific death, although these also occur in the poems, but the state of being mortal.
“I hold the grit of my life in my hands,” the author says in the title poem. What to do with that life is the question these poems probe with bravado and defiance, fear and anger, humor and hope.
"The Moon Makes Its Own Plea gives us poems beautifully nuanced, reflecting life in all its ironies and mysteries, poignantly aware of the brevity that makes each moment vivd and crucial." --Poetry Daily
The River Scrapes against Night
Through the scrim of the tent
I map constellations, fearful
I may have missed one
of the bland white sheep
lined up for counting,
fuzzy with their own bleating fatigue.
No matter how hard I stare,
I can't find the boundaries
between river and canyon,
canyon and sky. Bats
swoop close, intimate,
alarming. Night keeps knocking
without a hint of politeness.
I'm not fooled
by steady breathing.
We are this small.
This brief.
© BOA Editions, Ltd 2008
Available editions:
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Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-934414-14-9
Price: $16.00
Publishing Date: October 2008
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BOA Editions, Ltd. would like to thank the following generous Publishing Partners for their support of The Moon Makes Its Own Plea:
Anonymous (2)
Alan & Nancy Cameros
Gwen & Gary Conners
Peter & Sue Durant
Rev. Anne Fowler
Pete & Bev French
Jacquie & Andy Germanow, in honor of Tara
Dane & Judy Gordon
Kip & Debby Hale
Peter & Robin Hursh
Willy & Bob Hursh
X.J. & Dorothy Kennedy
Rena Koopman
Archie & Pat Kutz
Jason D. Labbe
Katy Lederer
Rosemary & Lewis Lloyd
Carla E. Lynton
Majorie Miller & Hal Poster
Bob & Dale Mnookin, in honor of Wendy Mnookin
Boo Poulin
Steven O. Russell & Phyllis Rifkin-Russell
Chris & Sarah Schoettle
Vicki & Richard Schwartz
Betsy & Martin Solomon
Alec Stais & Elissa Burke
Sue Stewart, in honor of Steven L. Raymond
The Wallback Family
Thomas R. Ward
Patricia D. Ward-Baker
F. Helmut & Caroline Weymar
Pat & Mike Wilder
Glenn & Helen William
Owen & Linda Youngman
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