Love's Last Number. Christopher Howell
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LOVE’S LAST NUMBER
ALSO BY CHRISTOPHER HOWELL
The Crime of Luck
Why Shouldn’t I
Though Silence: The Ling Wei Texts
Sea Change
Sweet Afton
Memory and Heaven
Just Waking
Light’s Ladder
Dreamless and Possible: Poems New and Selected
Gaze
LIMITED EDITIONS
The Bear in the Mirror
The Jetty
Red Alders in an Island Dream
The Wu General Writes from Far Away
Lady of the Fallen Air (from the Chinese)
King of the Butterflies
ANTHOLOGY
Aspects of Robinson: Homage to Weldon Kees (with Christopher Buckley)
© 2017, Text by Christopher Howell
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 Ryan Scheife / Mayfly Design
Cover illustration by Adam Hall
Author photo by Joni Sternbach
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First Edition
Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Jerome Foundation; 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. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Howell, Christopher, author.
Title: Love’s last number : poems / Christopher Howell.
Description: Minneapolis : Milkweed Editions, 2017.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016029439 | ISBN 9781571314758 (softcover : acid-free paper) | ISBN 9781571319333 (ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3558.O897 A6 2017 | DDC 811/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016029439
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 Jim Johnsrud, David Luckert,
Richard Morgan & Carlos Reyes
CONTENTS
8 Kansas
9 This Mortal Coil On the Nature of Things The After Hours Afterlife The Parable as Originally Told I’m Not Sure about Dying Edward Hopper
11 Saving Face
14 Two Poems in Which He Thinks of Her
16
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