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The Pyramids of Malpighi
Poetry. "Whoever you are, take courage from these poems, for if they tell us that life's not for sissies, they also remind us that, in the end, we all have a shot at being heroes" - David Kirby. "Steve Gehrke's THE PYRAMIDS OF MALPIGHI is full of intelligence, passion, and surprise.This book promises great things to come, true enough-but it is already a great thing, challenging, weighty and satisfying"- T.R. Hummer.
92 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 4, 2026
“If we are drawn to things it’s by / the absence we sense inside of them…” —from “Adolescence”
Finally found time to get back into reading, and this was a great place to start again. This work was clearly deserving of the 2002 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. Gehrke accomplishes the monumental task of connecting personal experiences to the audience in an impressive way. I happened upon this book in a used bookstore for only 25 cents, and the writing inspiration I’ve received from it is worth far more. Themes of memory, what it means to remember, and what it means to reconcile the difference between the two are masterfully presented.
“‘When we die,’ / / she said, ‘I think we become a part / of time, broken and borderless, spiraling / / out in all directions, like a listening.’ / I am giving her these words now / / because only absence is permanent…” —from “Inside the Dialysis Machine”
Finally found time to get back into reading, and this was a great place to start again. This work was clearly deserving of the 2002 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry. Gehrke accomplishes the monumental task of connecting personal experiences to the audience in an impressive way. I happened upon this book in a used bookstore for only 25 cents, and the writing inspiration I’ve received from it is worth far more. Themes of memory, what it means to remember, and what it means to reconcile the difference between the two are masterfully presented.
“‘When we die,’ / / she said, ‘I think we become a part / of time, broken and borderless, spiraling / / out in all directions, like a listening.’ / I am giving her these words now / / because only absence is permanent…” —from “Inside the Dialysis Machine”
December 9, 2013
There are good poems, great poems, and then every once in a while, there are poems that are evidence of indisputable genius. The poems in this exquisite and well-wrought book fall under the third category, and they're also brilliant meditations on what it means to have a human body -- and what it means when that body fails.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews