Coloratura On A Silence Found In Many Expressive Systems: Poems (Hardcover)

Description

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A celebrated poet returns with a vibrant and kaleidoscopic improvisation on the broken body and questing spirit.

“I was living in a high-maintenance loneliness,” Alice Fulton writes of a devastating accident, and her poems express both reverence and impatience as they search for a brightness palpable as the dark. The result is a brilliant coloratura on the senses. Fulton evokes phantom aromas of vanished perfumes, flowers fragrant only at night, and the ozone scent of snow; marvels at velvet paintings and chimerical colors outside the spectrum; and riffs on a mixtape of ambient sounds: applause, clinking glasses, spectral voices on the radio, and the whispers of a mother to her children.

Coloratura On A Silence Found In Many Expressive Systems extends these tactile mysteries to existential questions of invisible miracles, connection, and faith in the face of silence: “By praying you, I create you,” the poet informs an elusive God. Reveling in the stunning possibilities of language, Fulton seeks joy to counteract trauma and grief, empathizes with the silent pathos of animals, and finds solace in art, friendship, and the mysterious power of gifts. Without denying suffering, this enthralling volume extends a fervent prayer for gratitude and healing.

About the Author

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Alice Fulton is the author of ten books. Her honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress, and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award. She lives in central New York.

Praise For…

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Fulton is one of the wisest and most insightful poets in the country. The profundity of her verse sometimes comes through long explorations, sometimes in single lines. 'To witness constant miracle is a distraction,' she writes. Let yourself be distracted by her.
— Ron Charles - Washington Post Book Club

Joy and grief circle warily in this nimble collection from one of America’s marquee poets, who balances philosophical intensity with deft wordplay.
— New York Times Book Review

Fulton masterfully and lyrically levels with anguish... These layered, rich poems expand and test the possibilities of language while offering hope for joy and recovery.
— Publishers Weekly