Double Jinx. Nancy Reddy

      

Double Jinx

© 2015, Text by Nancy Reddy

      © 2015, Cover photograph by Lisa Gilman

      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. [phone]

       www.milkweed.org

      Published 2015 by Milkweed Editions

      Printed in the United States of America

      Cover design by Adam B. Bohannon

      Author photo by Cynthia Marie Hoffman

      Interior design by Adam B. Bohannon

      The text of this book is set in Perpatua.

      15 16 17 18 19 5 4 3 2 1

       First Edition

      Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the 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 the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.

      LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

      Reddy, Nancy, 1982-

      [Poems. Selections]

      Double Jinx / Nancy Reddy. — First edition.

      pages cm

      ISBN 978-1-57131-477-2 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-57131-938-8 (ebook)

      I. Title.

      PS3618.E4269A6 2015

      811’.6—dc23

      2014050288

      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. Double Jinx was printed on acid-free 30% postconsumer-waste paper by Versa Press.

for Smith

CONTENTS

       • Title Page • Copyright • Dedication 1 Ex Machina Divine and Mechanical Bodies The Case of the Double Jinx Understudy Possible and Impossible Sentences Little, Red Girl-Terrarium Lucy in Chrysalis Big Valley’s Last Surviving Beauty Queen Cinderella Story Before the Catalog of Boats Why the McKean County Lifeguards Left Town Paper Anniversary A Theory of Disaster 2 My Girlhood Apothecary Genealogy Family Portrait with Rosary and Steak Knife Genealogy Portrait of my Father as a Young Man with a Bludgeon In Language School My Father Learns to Pass for Dutch My Father Flying Home From War, 1975 Genealogy Games Lent 3 Our Wilderness Period Before and After, Botched Still Life with Mannequin and Leg of Lamb Fire Plan Frontier Thesis Rabbit Starvation Inventing the Body 4 Bad Magic We Won’t Make it to the Talkies Vigil Friendly Letter Horses Dream of Horses All Good Girls Deserve Fervent Missive Revisionist Love Story Birds Keep Nothing in Their Bones Unsent Defense Cutting Nature at the Joint Come Fetch The Secret Nancy • Acknowledgements • About the Author

       • Title Page

       • Copyright

       • Dedication

       1 Ex Machina

       Divine and Mechanical Bodies

       The Case of the Double Jinx

       Understudy

       Possible and Impossible Sentences

       Little, Red

       Girl-Terrarium

       Lucy in Chrysalis

       Big Valley’s Last Surviving Beauty Queen

       Cinderella Story

       Before the Catalog of Boats

       Why the McKean County Lifeguards Left Town

       Paper Anniversary

       A Theory of Disaster

       2 My Girlhood Apothecary

       Genealogy

       Family Portrait with Rosary and Steak Knife

       Genealogy

       Portrait of my Father as a Young Man with a Bludgeon

       In Language School My Father Learns to Pass for Dutch

       My Father Flying Home From War, 1975

       Genealogy

       Games

       Lent

       3 Our Wilderness Period

       Before and After, Botched

       Still Life with Mannequin and Leg of Lamb

       Fire Plan

       Frontier Thesis

       Rabbit Starvation

       Inventing the Body

       4 Bad Magic

       We Won’t Make it to the Talkies

       Vigil