The Wish Book. Alex Lemon

The Wish Book

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Also by Alex Lemon

Fancy Beasts

Hallelujah Blackout

Happy: A Memoir

Mosquito

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

www.milkweed.org

Published 2014 by Milkweed Editions

Cover design by Stewart A. Williams

Cover photo/illustration by Stewart A. Williams

Author photo by Ariane Balizet

13 14 15 16 17 5 4 3 2 1

First Edition

Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Bush Foundation; the Patrick and Aimee Butler Foundation; the Dougherty Family Foundation; the Driscoll Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; 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; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lemon, Alex

[Poems. Selections]

The Wish Book : Poems / Alex Lemon. — First Edition.

p. cm.

Summary: "Offering unrestrained descriptions of sensory overload and tender meditations on fatherhood and mortality, these poems blur the nebulous line between the personal and the pop-cultural"

ISBN 978-1-57131-843-5

(e-book) (print)

I. Title.

PS3612.E468A6 2014

811'.6--dc23

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. The Wish Book was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by Friesens Corporation.

For Felix . . .

More powerful than dynamite

Contents

Boundless

ONE

I Knew You Before You Were

After The World Did Not End

Ghost Rock

Still Life With Birthday Cake & Dynamite

Not Here Not Now

TWO

Pure Missing