In Sleep : And Other Poems

Poetry makes it
so you can't see straight.

This volume collects the poems in Paul Swenson's "white binder," which he carried with him during his last few years, reading from it at literary events, at writing group meetings, at meals with friends, and, finally, from his hospital bed toward the end of his life.

The poems explore

life's wavy crazy
surfaces-and all that's underneath-
the lust, the joy, the grief.

From wordplay to parenting. From Sweden to Utah. From Martin Luther King, Jr. to May Swenson. From the dentist's office to the dog pound. From spirit to eros.

And in the end, we find that

Perhaps straight's not quite so great
as it cracks up to be.