44 Poems for You

Sarah Ruhl

Playwright and essayist Sarah Ruhl began by writing poems. The two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist returns to poetry with her playful, warm debut collection, 44 Poems for You. As the title promises, these are poems of direct address. Including the reader in the concept of “you”—you the beloved, spouse, friend, you wherever you might be—Ruhl answers our collective longing for direct connection in an era of digital anonymity. With great affection for language and the nuances of human relationships, 44 Poems for You delivers poetic musings with characteristic emotional intelligence: witty, generous, loving, and tinged with longing.

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ISBN: 9781556595844

Format: Paperback

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Listen to Sarah Ruhl read “Summer, Rhode Island” from 44 Poems for You:

I intend to give you many bowls

1.

I intend to give you many bowls.
For apples and loose change.

What would suit you
better than a bowl.

Round with primacy,
place for holding.

You are not round
like a woman
but you have more
roundness than most men.

2.

In Korea,
every day a woman
prays for her son to come
home.

Her prayer:

Every day she puts clear water
in a bowl.

She placed it in the garden.

3.

I will deposit light when you’re absent.
Figs. Water. Unchurched compounds.
Tithes and dithyrambs. Light.

4.

A bowl.

Where a mother
keeps a son for safe-keeping.

A bowl.

Fugue on the
pre-eminence of corners.

A bowl.

Cornerstone
of repeated silence.

A bowl.

Something to eat
and light is changing.

A bowl.

Where I keep
my body when my head is raining.

A bowl.

Two cupped hands
made of clay.

 

About the Author

Sarah Ruhl is a playwright, essayist and poet. She is a MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and a Tony Award nominee. Her book of essays, 100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write, was published by FSG and named a notable book by The New York Times. Her book Letters from Max, co-authored with Max Ritvo and published by Milkweed Editions, was on the The New Yorker’s Best Poetry of the Year list. Her plays include For …

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Reviews

“A remarkable expansion of Ruhl’s oeuvre.” —Booklist

“Self-possessed, luminous with insight, and uncompromising, this is poetry at its finest: the kind that stays with you long after you think you’re done.”—The Adroit Journal