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Also by Eric Pankey
For the New Year
Heartwood
Apocrypha
The Late Romances
Cenotaph
Oracle Figures
Reliquaries
The Pear as One Example: New and Selected Poems
Trace
Dismantling the Angel
Crow-Work
© 2017, Text by Eric Pankey
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
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker
Cover image by Johann Zahn, from Oculus Artificialis Teledioptricus Sive Telescopium (1685)
Author photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths
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First Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pankey, Eric, 1959- author.
Title: Augury: poems / Eric Pankey.
Description: First edition. | Minneapolis, Minnesota: Milkweed Editions, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017007143 (print) | LCCN 2017014829 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571319401 (ebook) | ISBN 9781571314796 (softcover: acid-free paper)
Classification: LCC PS3566.A575 (ebook) | LCC PS3566.A575 A6 2017 (print) | DDC 811/.54--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017007143
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.
For my granddaughter, Karlyn Ryan Steinberg
CONTENTS
1 AUGURY
4 SPECULATION ON A STAR-NURSERY
6 SPECULATION ON THE HISTORY OF DRAWING
8 THE FIG
9 LOST
11 GHOST SHIP or UNION OF THE TORUS AND THE SPHERE
13 SPECULATION ON THE DARK AGES
17 THE FRAGILE INSTANT THE NIGHT LIGHTS UP
18 READING MONTALE IN PROVENCE
19 SPECULATION ON THE LITTLE ICE AGE
21 LOOSE LEAVES OF UNPURSUED SPECULATIONS
22 SPECULATION ON THE PRESENT TENSE
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