Keynote
Standoff is the exhilarating, witty, and wise new collection by the award-winning poet David Rivard
Book Title
Standoff
Subtitle
Poems
Cover Image
- “[Standoff] assailed me with its vivaciousness and cunning humor.”—Major Jackson, The New Yorker
Poem Excerpt
I often feel as though I’ve entered
a standoff between what
happens around me & what’s
going on inside—& this life
that goes on & on inside my head
goes on & on & on it seems
almost without me, as
it has since childhood . . .
—from “Standoff”
a standoff between what
happens around me & what’s
going on inside—& this life
that goes on & on inside my head
goes on & on & on it seems
almost without me, as
it has since childhood . . .
—from “Standoff”
Body
For three decades, David Rivard has written from deep within the skin of our times. With Standoff, he asks an essential question: In a world of noise, of global anxiety and media distraction, how can we speak to each other with honesty? These poems scan the shifting horizons of our world, all the while swerving elastically through the multitude of selves that live inside our memories and longings—“all those me’s that wish to be set free at dawn.” The work of these poems is a counterweight to the work of the world. It wants to deepen the mystery we are to ourselves, stretching toward acceptance and tenderness in ways that are hard-won and true, even if fleeting.
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About the Author
Credit: Matt Valentine
Praise
- “I’m so moved by [Standoff]. . . . It’s also Rivard’s most intimate and affectionate book.”—Lloyd Schwartz, WBUR
- “[Standoff] presents a range of memories and circumstances where the poet stares down mortality. . . . [The poems] offer an astute guide through everyday experiences.”—The Washington Post
- “Each poem is alive, nurturing, and rich. . . . Rivard is diverse and eclectic and pretty much master of the surprise.”—Washington Independent Review of Books
- “Well-crafted, cleanly ringing. . . . Wise, graceful poems for all readers.”—Library Journal *Starred Review*
