Clearwaer by Alice Derry

Louisiana State University Press, 2001. Paperback. Like New. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.

Tremolo can be contained in the line from Theodore Roethke's villanelle, "The Waking": "This shaking keeps me steady. I should know." In music, tremolo describes notes which are repeated in time, as opposed to trill, notes which stand outside the composition's basic beat. In the same way, our lives often cannot "claim their own space," but are forced to fit circumstance. The effect is tremulous: we are full of trembling, easily shaken. The book journeys through terrain where the speaker must accept what she's given: a mother's death, a daughter's leaving home, a father's dementia, a life compromised by war, prejudice, and violence, the myriad fearful situations of each day. The poems search for safety, ultimately understanding that the steadiness the speaker knows comes from taking the path in front of her, fully embracing her trembling. The wisdom of these poems is garnered from journeys the speaker fears, but must undertake. As Roethke writes, "I learn by going where I have to go."

Louisiana State University Press, 2001-01. Paperback. Good.

Yakima, WA: Blue Begonia, 1997. Trade Paperback. FINE. As new except for bookstore stamp and faint scratches on back cover. "unsparingly honest and intimate poems...as they take us inside the poet's actual and felt life as a mother, wife and teacher, a life that is as rich as it is contradictory and uncontrollable." ISBN: 091128723X.

Far Corner Books, 1986. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Fine copy -- 'as new'.

Far Corner Books, 1986-11. Paperback. Good.

Portland, Oregon: Trask House, 1993. Sewn Wraps. Fine. Liza Jones.

Far Corner Books, 1986. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Inscribed and signed by the author. Clean, tight copy.

Blue Begonia Press, 1997. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Signed & inscribed by author on title page. Clean, tight copy.

Blue Begonia Press, 1997-07-01. Paperback. Like New. Signed by author on title page, 1st Edition, trade softbound, clean & tight, square, mild shelfwear.