My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy: Poems

New York: HarperCollins, 2005. First edition, first printing (full number line). Hardcover. Fine in fine jacket; as new in fine dust-jacket. Octavo in blue illus jacket; xi, 97 pages; 22 cm. Signed and inscribed by Bly on title page. "A volume of forty-eight new works by the author of "The Night Abraham Called to the Stars" features pieces of an intricate and personal nature and follows such topics as the compositions of Bach, the suffering of war, and the intensity of Flamenco singers." - Publisher. / Contents: The dark autumn nights -- A poem for Andrew Marvell -- Listening to the sitar before dawn -- Loafing with friends at Ojo Caliente -- When I am with you -- There are so many Platos -- Bach's B Minor Mass -- The blind Tobit -- The Greek ships -- Visiting the teacher -- Growing wings -- Tightening the cinch -- Call and answer -- Advice from the geese -- The blinding of Samson -- The nest in which we were born -- Rembrandt's brown ink -- The pelicans at White Horse Key -- Flamenco singers in Granada -- The horses coming up behind -- Brahms -- Jacob and Rachel -- What to do with the garden -- The shoehorn -- Singing the same throaty note -- The pistachio nut -- Listening to old music -- Hiding in a drop of water -- For Robert Motherwell -- Listening to Shahram Nazeri. (Cont.) Mailing evidence to the prosecutors -- Waking in the middle of the night -- A week in Florence -- Rameau's music -- Losing the house in a card game -- A history of mourning -- A week on the Oregon coast -- Sand heaps -- The dingy playing cards -- The fat old couple whirling around -- Shabistari and The secret garden -- The night the cities burned -- The bridegroom -- The head of barley -- Adam's understanding -- Eating blackberry jam -- The buff-chested grouse -- Stealing sugar from the castle. // American poetry. Poésie américaine. American poetry. Ghazals (Poetry).