Turn Up the Ocean: Poems

by Tony Hoagland

The final book of poems by Tony Hoagland, “one of the most distinctive voices of our time” (Carl Dennis).

Over the course of his celebrated career, Tony Hoagland ventured fearlessly into the unlit alleys of emotion and experience. The poems in Turn Up the Ocean examine with an unflinching eye and mordant humor the reality of living and dying in a time and culture that conspire to erase our inner lives. Hoagland’s signature wit and unparalleled observations take in long-standing injustices, the atrocities of American empire and consumerism, and our ongoing habit of looking away. In these poems, perseverance depends on a gymnastics of skepticism and comedy, a dogged quest for authentic connection, and the consolations of the natural world. Turn Up the Ocean is a remarkable and moving collection, a fitting testament to Hoagland’s devotion to the capaciousness and art of poetry.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

80 pages, Paperback

Published July 12, 2022

About the author

Tony Hoagland was born in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He earned a BA from the University of Iowa and an MFA from the University of Arizona.

Hoagland was the author of the poetry collections Sweet Ruin (1992), which was chosen for the Brittingham Prize in Poetry and won the Zacharis Award from Emerson College; Donkey Gospel (1998), winner of the James Laughlin Award; What Narcissism Means to Me (2003), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award; Rain (2005); Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty (2010); Application for Release from the Dream (2015); Recent Changes in the Vernacular (2017); and Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God (2018).

He has also published two collections of essays about poetry: Real Sofistakashun (2006) and Twenty Poems That Could Save America and Other Essays (2014). Hoagland’s poetry is known for its acerbic, witty take on contemporary life and “straight talk,” in the words of New York Times reviewer Dwight Garner: “At his frequent best … Hoagland is demonically in touch with the American demotic.”

Hoagland’s many honors and awards included fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. He received the O.B. Hardison Prize for Poetry and Teaching from the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Poetry Foundation’s Mark Twain Award, and the Jackson Poetry Prize from Poets & Writers. Hoagland taught at the University of Houston and in the Warren Wilson MFA program. He died in October 2018..

Reviews

[Ace Boggess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This posthumously-published collection is marvelous. I devoured it and still wanted more, a little sad to realize there won't be any. It's a wonderful book. If you're a fan of Hoagland, you'll love this. Even if you're not, you'll still probably love it.

[Makenzie Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

this has been one of the most thought-provoking, enraging, and comforting poetry collections i have ever read. it mostly airs on the side of political poetry and a longing for nature & compassion - which i think greatly aligns with america right now. reading this helped me process some of my feelings regarding recent events in america, and i would recommend this to anyone. it is an amazing collection <3

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant surprise this one; the tone of the poems is often ironic, very genX-y; will read more.

Your job is to stay calm.
Your job is to watch and take notes, to go on looking.
Your job is to not be turned into stone.

[jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i like this collection but i have to write a reading response about it for class and that’s gonna be really hard bc i didn’t think there was really anything all that special about the form🧍‍♀️

[Tammy V · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book of poetry for me. The first time I read it, I was in love with it and the 2nd time I picked it up it left me cold. Reading it again for today, I am stuck by the simplicity of the language and reportage of what is being seen.

As poetry goes, any one of the poems could also be a prose poem. They are little stories . the language is mundane with no readily apparently poetic diction - I wasn't aware of alliteration or rhyme.

The author dies from cancer and there is a lot of end of life observations, but they are observations, dispassionate.

**

a favorite:

IN THE BEAUTIFUL RAIN

Hearing that old phrase "a good death,"
which I still don't exactly understand,
I've decided I've already
had so many I don't need another.

Though before I go,
I wish to offer some revisions
to the existing vocabulary....

Now, if poetry can help, it is time to say,
"She fell from her trapeze at 2 a.m.
in the midst of a triple backflip
in front of her favorite witnesses."

Let us say, "In broad daylight,
Ms. Abigail Miller
conducted her daring escape
before life, that crook,
had completely picked her pocket."....

"Though grudging at first,
he fell like the rain,
with his eyes wide open, willing to change."

[allyson dunn-worthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony always hits. More than any other poet, I want to share his works with as many people as possible. He just…. Gets it??

This posthumous collection brings me to tears everyyyyy time. He’s like a gold glass of wine - a sweet introduction, acid enough to wash it away, and a clear strong smooth finish that lingers for years.

From “Butter”, now copied into my journal:

Why did I ever think that approval was gratuitous?
Why did it take me so long to see that the power of sweetness/
is as great as the power of the river and the sun?

If I can’t improve the world by scorching it with truth,/
if I can’t conquer it by twisting its arm behind its back,

then give me some adjectives like lipstick and gloss,
give me some language like mint and honey for the heart.

I will lavish the world with the power of butter.
I will force it to feel good about itself.

First I will make it blush—
then I will step back, and watch it shine.

[sofia bessette · Rating 5 out of 5]

this may be one of my favorite poetry collections ever

[Shayla]

I don't have any particularly strong feelings about this one. I'll borrow a couple words from other reviewers to describe it: dispassionate and cold. From my understanding Hoagland wrote these near the end of his life, when he was dying from cancer. I appreciate the insights that come from having lived a full life and seeing it come to a close, but there's something really distancing about this work, like I'm constantly being kept at arm's length. He's often wry and humorous, constantly sounds like he has a bone to pick with god. But it leaves a lot of the poetry feeling incomplete, like in attempting humor he forgot to also pay enough attention to the substance. I'm not asking to be beaten over the head with meaning, but so many of the poems left me feeling like "That's it...?" as if they were missing something. Not to mention the overall disjointed feel of the collection as a whole.

Still, not the worst I've read by a mile, and I enjoyed plenty of lines. I also appreciated that sense of how much of life feels like a confused mess-- it's disorienting, all the different facets of being human that you have to try to pay attention to, it feels like there's no place to ever really settle. Like the moment you begin to understand life your time is up. I think the collection lacks the wisdom of a lot of the other poetry I've read. So it's missing a certain radiance, but also feels very real and down to earth because of that. Here is a human who has clearly bumbled through life quite a bit. Just like the rest of us.

A couple of my favorite pieces:

from "Homework"--

Sometimes I think I'm not really qualified for this job,
the job of my life, I mean,

and yet I keep on doing it,
with more enthusiasm than skill,
as if jamming things together and twisting them hard

was an Eastern philosophy,
which claims not that life is beautiful
but that jagged edges and dried blood

are part of being here.
The damage proves that we are real.

and from "Disclosure Agreement"--

I just want you to know that I haven't given up.
I'm still searching for the message that
I've heard so much about;
I'd like to look at a boat or a bird without thinking of escape.

I should and I must be more patient.
I must believe that sticking around
is the only way I have to become a human being.

I really love both of those. But still, the impact of the book wasn't all that satisfying. I'd definitely be willing to read more of his stuff though.

[lefttoread]

I've struggled with poetry in the past and thought I had given up on it. Due to some recent changes in my life, I decided to give it another try. I even researched tips on how to read and enjoy poetry. I found an article that helped me along my way, the article mentioned a couple of poems the writer loved and why, so I tried those first, keeping in mind what the writer of the article had said about each one. The article also suggested that poems often need to be read more than once to fully understand them or at least take something away from them.

After reading the poems from the article and finding that I had a different experience with poetry this time around, I was open to finding more, and I wanted a collection I could dive into. That's when Turn Up the Ocean appeared in a Youtube video I was watching and I felt drawn to pick it up. I immediately sought it out and to my surprise, I ended up devouring this collection.

Turn Up the Ocean is beautiful, deep, sad and eye-opening. I would like to read more by Tony Hoagland as this collection resonated with me. As the article mentioned, there were a few poems that I noted down to go back to at a future date as I didn't quite understand them. But I found this was okay this time around, especially after reading the afterword by Kathleen Lee. She shared how the pieces she decided to put in the collection might never have been considered polished enough for a book by Tony himself, but how she enjoyed the roughness of them. I found this sentiment echoed in several of the poems, particularly 'Incompletion,' which reflects our ongoing search for something more or 'complete' and I think this is exactly how the collection was meant to be.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

overall a poetry collection well worth reading. “harbor” and the title poem “turn up the ocean” i think will live with me forever. in general, the poems revolve around consumerism, life when you know there is an expiration date (the author wrote these poems while living with
terminal cancer), and man vs. nature. i appreciated the bits of humor, even when dark, but also the brutal honesty and vulnerability apparent throughout all the poems. again, a poetry collection well worth sinking into and spending some time on.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony has completely captured my heart, mind and spirit. This collection is about death and dying more than his previous collections; utterly soul-shattering and delicious poetry. His poetic sensibilities for the absurdity of life and the raw human experience are like no one else. Reading these poems has brought me immense comfort and profound appreciation for being a feeling, breathing and living thing.

[Monica Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must keep reading these poems over and over again. There are lines that should be tattoos. How to choose?

From ‘Disclosure Agreement’

“…I just want you to know I haven’t given up.
I’m still searching for the message that
I’ve heard so much about;
I’d like to look at a boat or a bird without thinking of escape.

I should and I must be more patient.
I must believe that sticking around
is the only way I have to become a human being…”

[emi | jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed much of Hoagland's work. My favorite poem was definitely, "I DON'T ASK WHAT YOU'RE THINKING." It made me sob over and over again. I also loved the story that, "BOTANY," told.

Hoagland has a way of crafting brilliant similes and using descriptive imagery to illustrate emotion. I admired a lot of his work, though there were a few that I did not enjoy as much as the rest.

[Conner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the poems were less accurate I’d probably feel better, but they wouldn’t be as good.

[Rachel Hepburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing, beautiful, stunning x

[evelyn ❀(taylor’s version) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
lots of duende is so many of the poems. i just rly loved it

[Leenah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nichole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my favorite book of poems although there were a few bits that I enjoyed.

His poem WHY I LIKE THE HOSPTIAL filled me with a whole lot of rage.

He started with a bit about how it allows pathos (aka pity/sadness) and then gives examples of three women, two with very women-centric issues.

I know from further reading that the author passed away due to cancer, but as a mother who had to recently figure out how to tell her kids that she has breast cancer and who will have a bilateral mastectomy - this pissed me the hell off.

You don't get to use the terrible, shitty medical experience of someone else with words like pathos whilst going on to frame yourself as the one sobbing without shame while holding your own hand.

You get a big eff off for that one sir, dead or not.

[Charles M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This posthumous collection is not his best but his voice is still unique . There is less lacerating wit and anger than in earlier poems . There is a new wisdom present in these elegiac poems which he had not previously expressed. A poet who is deeply missed

[Sandra Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turn Up the Ocean by Tony Hoagland

Here I am, looking for more poetry about my beloved sea. Not happening—but I do like his title poem, “Turn Up the Ocean,” about the sounds that lull us to sleep and the poet’s finding solace in the digital “surging of surf played on a permanent loop.” This fabulous collection starts off with the Bible and turns dark with “Bible All Out of Order.” The blurb on the back states the poet ventured through “unlit alleys,” and away we go! Despite all the darkness, all the agony, oh, the humor! The downright paradox of the western tale in “Illness and Literature.” I’m sure Hoagland is now, in the afterlife, enjoying the “long prairie” of “Butter,” at the “very X of the paradox.”

I once wrote a beloved poem called “Driving Home from Kerrville” with the line “everything is poetry—well, Mr. Hoagland, I can see you believe that also! No topic off limits, from a dirty bandage to Siberia to the apocalypse. Excellent. I’m in awe of Hoagland’s talent to merge sorrow and humor so deviously. A thankful call out to Kathryn Lee on compiling this posthumous collection, her capturing all the poet’s best is so much more than a chapbook.

♥️ “Immersion,” “Botany,” “Why I Like the Hospital,” “Peaceful Transition,” “Siberia,” the beauty of “Walk,” “Virginia Woolf,” ♥️♥️♥️ “Illness and Literature,” and the absolute humor of “Mistaken Identity Librarian Syndrome”

[Lizzybeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love picking up poetry collections and jumping right into it, hoping that I can surprise myself with a new author to come back to. And I can definitely say that upon once I've read through it all, Tony did not disappoint.

Tony Hoagland has such strength in his writing, ending each message with a strong punch that leaves me with plenty of thought and wonder. I was even surprised at times when his word choices had made me think a younger person and their woke self were writing these.

Although themes of consumerism and other human atrocities occupied these pages, there was also pieces sandwiched in between that ached of pain and grief. I wondered who our author really was and finally looked into his life. I am not very good with reading darker subjects, but I am glad to have picked this up. As we are lucky to have these writings put out into the world, and writings that did not hesitate to paint the reality he went through.

5/5

[Annika Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my heart. I picked up and put down this collection several times over the past year. Whatever I read was lovely, but my head’s been tumultuous. Somehow not in the space for poetry. Until two days ago, when I suddenly knew I needed not only poetry, but to finish this book specifically. My bookmark was where I had left it, but I started from the beginning anyway. And then I devoured.

As with any collection of poetry - or prose, or essays, or anything - not every individual piece had the same level of impact for me. But there are lines throughout that kept me up at night, and the overarching cadence pulled me back again and again. Just to end on “Peaceful Transition,” which may or may not have wrecked me. I can’t wait to read these again.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Hoagland’s posthumous poetry collection Turn up the Ocean explores mortality, love, identity and any other topics that he has found interesting. He is deeply humorous, loves to play with form and word choice in his poems without giving up on cultivating intense emotions along the way. Besides, the way he sets up a scene meticulously through imagery and sounds in his poetry is also impressive.

Poetry Podium 🥁🥁🥁
🥇Immersion
🥈I Don’t Ask What You Are Thinking
🥉Walk

I’m grateful to have come across this book through @emmie.reads and would readily recommend anyone to read it! 4.25/5

@cassiegracetheinkling

#bookreview #bookstagram #tonyhoagland #tonyhoaglandpoems #poetry #literature

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Living is a lot like dying, especially from the perspective of one with a terminal illness who is perched on the edge of the precipice between here and there. The poet shares much wit and wisdom as he struggles to make peace with what is, yet refusing to go gently into that dark night. Kathleen Lee has done a fine job of bringing this collection together in a final act of love, allowing the poet to give his own eloquent eulogy. “Virginia Woolf” is an absolute masterpiece.

Favorite Poems:
“Bible All Out of Order”
“Immersion”
“Disclosure Agreement”
“Why I Like the Hospital”
“Squad Car Light”
“Turn Up the Ocean”
“Butter”
“Diagnosis”
“Bandage”
“How the Old Poetry Happened”
“I Don’t Ask What You’re Thinking”
“Causes of Death”
“Virginia Woolf”
“The Power of Traffic”
“Dante’s Bar and Grill”
“The Interfaith Chapel in the South Terminal”
“Homework”
“In the Beautiful Rain”
“Peaceful Transitions”

[Daniel Rosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Insightful. Poignant writing. Highly recommended. So immersive in everyday life events and occurrences with observations that shake the mind and spirit. Very relatable too. I could imagine being in that doctor’s office waiting room as described in ‘Illness and Literature’. He captures the moment so eloquently.

Did it take me 9 months to read 83 pages? Yes! Some of these works stick with you for days, months. You have to let them sink in and become you. You have to re-read them to see if you truly understand the words, or was it just that coincidental 2am thunderstorm that made it so touching? I reflect on the title poem on a regular basis.

[Jacquelyn Burks · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Sometimes I think I’m not really qualified for this job,
the job of my life, I mean,

and yet I keep on doing it,
with more enthusiasm than skill,
as if jamming things together and twisting them hard

was an Eastern philosophy,
which claims not that life is beautiful
but that jagged edges and dried blood

are part of being here.
The damage proves that we are real.
About beauty, I am not prepared to say.”

To me, Poetry is meant to make you think. To think both in an eclectic manner as well as a specific one. And this collection definitely fits that idea.

[Jeffrey (Akiva) Savett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was incredibly sad to finish this last collection from Hoagland published just around his passing.

But I was incredibly happy too because, while maybe not his BEST set of poems, these are STRONG. No waning of his powers here.

And the poems, especially the last 5-7 or so, as Hoagland becomes more and more sure of his fate, are gifts to be loved and appreciated. The way he wrote about identity, memory, legacy, and the end of consciousness, in his usual Hoagland manner—full of pathos AND humor AND an unwavering sense of word choice and image taste—is just exhilarating.

[Troy Tradup · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And once I saw a man in a lime-green dressing gown,
hunched over a chair; a man who was not
yelling at the doctors, or pretending to be strong,
or making a murmured phone call to his wife,

but one sobbing without shame,
pumping it all out from the bottom of the self,
the overflowing bilge of helplessness and rage,
a man no longer expecting to be saved,

but if you looked, you could see
that he was holding his own hand in sympathy,
listening to every single word,
and he was telling himself everything."

[Maia H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's bc I'm in a reading slump rn, or maybe this just isn't my style of poetry, but this didn't hit for me. But since this collection was compiled and published posthumously, the author would've probably polished it a bit more had he been able to. I find a lot of the poems poignant and thought-provoking, plus the imagery and sensory language in many of them were very well-done. Ultimately, however, I don't think any of these poems will stick in my mind. I might revisit this collection some day to see if I'll enjoy it more then, but for now I'll just leave the rating as is.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars!

Such a beautiful and heartfelt collection, I adored so many of these.

I can see it’s possible I have made a mistake.
I can see that it’s possible I have constructed
this story of disappointment and grief:
the song of abandonment I was trained to expect.

I just want you to know I haven’t given up.
I’m still searching for the message that
I’ve heard so much about;
I’d like to look at a boat or a bird without thinking
of escape.

There were a few small/passing comments about women that I wasn't a big fan of, so not five stars.