Utah State University Press, 2006 Cloth: 978-0-87421-645-5 | eISBN: 978-0-87421-540-3 Library of Congress Classification PS3552.R419W59 2006 Dewey Decimal Classification 811.54
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK The solid rightness of image after image in Ken Brewer’s poetry was never better than in Why Dogs Stopped Flying. His familiar style is plain-spoken, his humor reliable and
self-ironic. Yet, in this collection perhaps more than his earlier work, the particularity of the poet’s insight into the physical world and the warmth of his affection for it combine
to create an unexpected transcendence. Beasts and bodies are transformed in his lines, and our dim, unremarkable lives on this shadowed earth become somehow more
luminous—small words to the moon, small suns opening in the dark.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Influential for over three decades as a poet, writer, teacher, and mentor in the Intermountain West, Kenneth W. Brewer published ten books of poetry; hundreds of individual poems in literary journals; dozens of essays and articles; he also gave countless readings, and conducted writing workshops throughout the Western states. Professor of English at Utah State University for 32 years, Brewer served on the Board of Directors of the Utah Arts Council and was Utah's poet laureate from 2003 to 2005. As this book was going to print, Ken Brewer passed away at his home in Providence, Utah, surrounded by family and friends.
REVIEWS
Ken Brewer loved life, perfected his own art of right living, and graciously accepted his role and responsibility as earth's caretaker. In his poetic Bestiary, we see his metaphorical alter-ego, the joyous spokesman for and champion of the earth and the earth's have-nots. The voice of these poems is a radical departure from Dr. Kenneth Brewer, Poet Laureate of Utah, scholar and archetypal gentleman. Here we have Ken-of-the-earth, Old Mongrel, keen-nosed, sharp-eyed, quick-witted and on point. These poems are as refreshing as a face-slap of cold water on a crisp morning.
David Lee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Why Dogs Stopped Flying5
Belted Galloways6
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds7
Brother Slug8
Cat9
Chickadee Drive-In10
Coyote on a Cloud of Nitrogen11
Curl12
Dermatophagoides15
Field Guide16
Fishing Before the Frost17
Fox at Play18
Goat's Milk19
Goldenrod Spider20
Great Spangled Fritillary21
Henslow's Sparrow22
Home23
How to Train a Horse to Burn24
Largest Living Organism on Earth25
Learning to Draw26
Loons27
Magpie Springs30
Martha31
Mourning Cloak32
"Now the Sun Has Come to Earth"33
Old Fences35
Scarlet Penstemon36
Sheep37
Solitary Vireo38
The Courage of Frogs39
The Dignity of Cockroaches40
The Many Beings41
The Silliest Debate42
The Tarantula Hawk43
Watching the Waterfall44
What Happens to Pansies in Utah45
What I Learned from the Joshua Forest46
After the Big Bang47
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Utah State University Press, 2006 Cloth: 978-0-87421-645-5 eISBN: 978-0-87421-540-3
The solid rightness of image after image in Ken Brewer’s poetry was never better than in Why Dogs Stopped Flying. His familiar style is plain-spoken, his humor reliable and
self-ironic. Yet, in this collection perhaps more than his earlier work, the particularity of the poet’s insight into the physical world and the warmth of his affection for it combine
to create an unexpected transcendence. Beasts and bodies are transformed in his lines, and our dim, unremarkable lives on this shadowed earth become somehow more
luminous—small words to the moon, small suns opening in the dark.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Influential for over three decades as a poet, writer, teacher, and mentor in the Intermountain West, Kenneth W. Brewer published ten books of poetry; hundreds of individual poems in literary journals; dozens of essays and articles; he also gave countless readings, and conducted writing workshops throughout the Western states. Professor of English at Utah State University for 32 years, Brewer served on the Board of Directors of the Utah Arts Council and was Utah's poet laureate from 2003 to 2005. As this book was going to print, Ken Brewer passed away at his home in Providence, Utah, surrounded by family and friends.
REVIEWS
Ken Brewer loved life, perfected his own art of right living, and graciously accepted his role and responsibility as earth's caretaker. In his poetic Bestiary, we see his metaphorical alter-ego, the joyous spokesman for and champion of the earth and the earth's have-nots. The voice of these poems is a radical departure from Dr. Kenneth Brewer, Poet Laureate of Utah, scholar and archetypal gentleman. Here we have Ken-of-the-earth, Old Mongrel, keen-nosed, sharp-eyed, quick-witted and on point. These poems are as refreshing as a face-slap of cold water on a crisp morning.
David Lee
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
Why Dogs Stopped Flying5
Belted Galloways6
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds7
Brother Slug8
Cat9
Chickadee Drive-In10
Coyote on a Cloud of Nitrogen11
Curl12
Dermatophagoides15
Field Guide16
Fishing Before the Frost17
Fox at Play18
Goat's Milk19
Goldenrod Spider20
Great Spangled Fritillary21
Henslow's Sparrow22
Home23
How to Train a Horse to Burn24
Largest Living Organism on Earth25
Learning to Draw26
Loons27
Magpie Springs30
Martha31
Mourning Cloak32
"Now the Sun Has Come to Earth"33
Old Fences35
Scarlet Penstemon36
Sheep37
Solitary Vireo38
The Courage of Frogs39
The Dignity of Cockroaches40
The Many Beings41
The Silliest Debate42
The Tarantula Hawk43
Watching the Waterfall44
What Happens to Pansies in Utah45
What I Learned from the Joshua Forest46
After the Big Bang47
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE