Home Burial (4 page)

The epigraph “...here comes midnight with the dead moon in its jaws...” is taken from Jason Molina's song “Farewell Transmission” on his Songs: Ohia album
Magnolia Electric Co
. (Secretly Canadian, 2003).

“The Cow” is for David Wevill.

“All Dogs, You Said, Are Descendants of the Wolf” is based on James Everett Stanley's painting
070707
.

About the Author

Michael McGriff was born and raised in Coos Bay, Oregon. His books include
Dismantling the Hills; To Build My Shadow a Fire: The Poetry and Translations of David Wevill
; and a co-translation of Tomas Tranströmer's
The Sorrow Gondola
. His poetry, translations, and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including
American Poetry Review, Bookforum, Slate, Narrative, The Believer
, and
The Wall Street Journal
. He has received a Lannan Literary Fellowship, a Stegner Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship. He is the founding editor of Tavern Books, a publishing house devoted to poetry in translation and the reviving of out-of-print books.

Books by Michael McGriff

Home Burial

Dismantling the Hills

Choke

The Sorrow Gondola
, Tomas Tranströmer [translator, with Mikaela Grassl]

To
Build My Shadow a Fire: The Poetry and Translations of David Wevill
[editor]

Acknowledgments

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the editors of the books and periodicals in which these poems first appeared: “Catfish,” “The Garments of the Night,” “Invocation,” “Note Left for My Former Self,” and “The Residence of the Night” in
American Poetry Review
; “Above the Earth” and “Alone in Hell's Canyon” in
Bat City Review
; “My Family History as Explained by the South Fork of the River” in
The Believer
; “Year of the Rat” in
Cortland Review
; “In February,” “Pipeline,” and “Sunday” in
Indiana Review
; “Against My Will,” “In the Break Room,” and “Midwinter” in
The Missouri Review
; “All Dogs, You Said, Are Descendants of the Wolf,” “The Cow,” “Don't Explain,” and “New Civilian” in
Narrative
; “The Book of Hours,” “Dead Man's Bells, Witches' Gloves,” and “Kissing Hitler” in
Neo
(Portugal); and “The Line between Heaven and Earth” in
Slate
.

“Drinking at the Rusted Oyster” first appeared in
Oyster Suite
, a fine-press edition with poems by Carl Adamshick, Matthew Dickman, and Michael Dickman (Charles Seluzicki Fine and Rare Books, 2011).

Special thanks to the Lannan Foundation
for a Literary Fellowship and residency at Marfa that offered essential funding and artistic space. // Thanks to Jo Chapman. // Thanks to Michael Wiegers. // Thanks to Eavan Boland and the Stanford Creative Writing Program. // Thanks to James Everett Stanley. // Thanks to David Wevill, Sara Michas-Martin, Bruce Snider, and Andrew Grace for poring over this book in its earliest forms. // Thanks to Britta Ameel, Carl Adamshick, Michael Dickman, Matthew Dickman, Joseph Millar, and Dorianne Laux—ever faithful.

Copyright 2012 by Michael McGriff

All rights reserved

Cover art: James Everett Stanley,
070707
, watercolor, 16 x 19.5 inches

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