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Also by Dan Beachy-Quick
Nonfiction
Wonderful Investigations
A Whaler’s Dictionary
A Brighter Word Than Bright: Keats at Work
Fiction
An Impenetrable Screen of Purest Sky
Poetry
North True South Bright
Spell
Mulberry
This Nest, Swift Passerine
Circle’s Apprentice
Gentlessness
© 2017, Text by Dan Beachy-Quick
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 2017 by Milkweed Editions
Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker
Cover artwork by Megan Canning, All my body calls, 2008, Hand embroidery on linen with cotton, 16” × 12” × 3”
17 18 19 20 21 5 4 3 2 1
First Edition
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by 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 Wells Fargo. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Beachy-Quick, Dan, 1973- author.
Title: Of silence and song / Dan Beachy-Quick.
Description: Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017036026 (print) | LCCN 2017036678 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571319432 (ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3602.E24 (ebook) | LCC PS3602.E24 A6 2017 (print) | DDC 811/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036026
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. Of Silence and Song was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by Friesens Corporation.
for Kristy, Hana, Iris, & my mother
—prism, light—
Every spirit makes its house; but afterwards the house confines the spirit.
—RALPH WALDO EMERSON, “FATE”
There is indeed the inexpressible. This shows itself; it is the mystical.
—LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN, TRACTATUS LOGICO-PHILOSOPHICUS
Light that makes some things seen, makes some things invisible.
—SIR THOMAS BROWNE, THE GARDEN OF CYRUS; OR, THE QUINCUNX
What is worse, knowledge is made by oblivion.
—SIR THOMAS BROWNE, PSEUDODOXIA EPIDEMICA
Thought kills me that I am not thought.
—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, SONNET 44
Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green.
—HENRY DAVID THOREAU, A WEEK ON THE CONCORD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS
CONTENTS
Chapter 1.
Chapter 2.
Chapter 3.
Riddles, Labyrinths
Chapter 5.
Chapter 6.
Chapter 7.
Chapter 8.
Heliopause
Chapter 10.
Memory & Poppy
Chapter 12.
Some Burial Rites
Chapter 14.
Sibboleth
Gorgon Poetics
OY TIΣ
Chapter 18.
Omens
Chapter 20.
Some Animal Poems for Children to Learn and Sing
Grave
