Salt Water Amnesia

by Jeffrey Skinner

Jeffrey Skinner’s poems come at the world from many different directions. Some are outrageous and very funny, like “Experiment,” which begins, “I sewed my father into a specially designed, handmade bear suit. He was indistinguishable from a real bear, and yet retained the necessary functions of a human. I also provided a G.P.S. radio collar. Then I air-dropped him into a densely forested preserve. When I returned a year later I found he had mated with an Asian black bear. He and she and their two cubs lived a quiet life in a mountain cave.” In other poems, Skinner explores more familiar domestic landscapes, taking us with great tenderness and precision into the life of the human heart. By turns poignant, brainy, and hilarious, Salt Water Amnesia is a book that will surprise and delight. Reading the Bay A calm water morning. After what was said on both sides.
Don’t you talk to me that way. My daughter .
We cannot speak, now, nor stand to touch . The bay, covered with tiny script
Moving rapidly right to left. Words
Crossing over
One another, whole passages
Torn from an asylum diary. I lifted her Body, a huge flailing penknife, into the car. A seagull sits bobbing on the text. My brother.
It appears that, today at least, all language moves out to sea. Jeffrey Skinner has published four collections of Late Stars , A Guide to Forgetting , The Company of Heaven , and Gender Studies . His work has received wide recognition, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Howard Foundation. Currently director of the creative writing program at the University of Louisville, he is also co-founder and editorial consultant for Sarabande Books.

Genres: Poetry

120 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can y'all tell I've been comfort reading my favorite poetry collections? (It's like poetry is all I have time for or something) (I don't even really have time for it but I was starting to lose my mind)

I might be biased bc of how much I love Jeff Skinner to begin with but this is one of my fave poetry collections. Like I don't even LIKE the ocean but so many of these poems make me want to be near it.

And he does such neat things with language. I can reread the same poem several times and still find new things to delight in.

[Bonnie Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fav.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating perspective on life in the form of poetry and poetic prose. Skinner expands upon the mundane and everyday anecdotes, offering valuable perspective.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually like Poems that much. I was very pleased with Skinner's honesty and realistic perspective.