CHRISTIAN WIMAN was born in West Texas in 1966. He is the author, editor, and translator of numerous books, including Hammer Is the Prayer: Selected Poems (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016) and Joy: 100 Poems (Yale University Press, 2017). He teaches at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale Divinity School.
Of “Assembly,” Wiman writes: “What is the point of poetry when the world is going to hell? I asked that question in an essay several years ago, but it has become even more urgent to me recently, now that the demons have taken off their masks and every day’s news is a storm of slime and vileness. It surprises me, then, to find that my hope for poetry has actually increased—or perhaps simply hardened—right along with my rage. This is a poem of despair, but I hope its despair is prophetic rather than futile, furious and galvanizing rather than recessive and resigned. Faith in language is faith enough in times like these.”
MAGAZINES WHERE THE POEMS WERE FIRST PUBLISHED
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Academic Questions, poetry ed. Felicia Sanzari Chernesky. www.nas.org/projects/projects_academic_questions
The Adroit Journal, poetry eds. Jesse De Angelis, Lisa Hiton, Jackson Holbert, and Talin Tahajian. www.theadroitjournal.org
Ambit, poetry eds. Ralf Webb, Imogen Cassels, and Ruby Silk. www.ambitmagazine.co.uk
America, poetry ed. Joseph Hoover, SJ. www.americamagazine.org
The American Journal of Poetry, ed. Robert Nazarene, senior ed. James Wilson. www.theamericanjournalofpoetry.com
The American Poetry Review, ed. Elizabeth Scanlon. www.aprweb.org
The Antioch Review, poetry ed. Judith Hall. http://review.antiochcollege.org/antioch-review-home-page
The Atlantic, poetry ed. David Barber. www.theatlantic.com
Bennington Review, ed. Michael Dumanis. www.benningtonreview.org
Birmingham Poetry Review, ed. Adam Vines. www.uab.edu/cas/englishpublications/bpr
BuzzFeed, executive ed., culture, Saeed Jones. www.buzzfeed.com/reader
Catamaran, poetry eds. Catherine Segurson and Zack Rogow. www.catamaranliteraryreader.com
Colorado Review, poetry eds. Donald Revell, Sasha Steensen, and Matthew Cooperman. www.coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-review
The Common, poetry ed. John Hennessy. www.thecommononline.org
Copper Nickel, poetry eds. Brian Barker and Nicky Beer. www.copper-nickel.org
The Dark Horse, eds. Gerry Cambridge with Jennifer Goodrich and Marcia Menter. www.thedarkhorsemagazine.com
Denver Quarterly, poetry ed. Bin Ramke. www.du.edu/denverquarterly
Ecotone, poetry ed. Hunter Hobbs. www.ecotonemagazine.org
Fifth Wednesday Journal, eds. James Ballowe, Nina Corwin, and Susan Azar Porterfield. www.fifthwednesdayjournal.com
First Things, poetry ed. Paul Lake. www.firstthings.com
Green Mountains Review, ed. Elizabeth Powell, poetry ed. Didi Jackson. www.greenmountainsreview.com
Gulf Coast, poetry eds. Daniel Chu, Aza Pace, and Chelsea B. DesAutels. www.gulfcoastmag.org
The Hopkins Review, poetry ed. Greg Williamson. www.hopkinsreview.jhu.edu
The Hudson Review, ed. Paula Deitz. www.hudsonreview.com
The Literary Review, poetry eds. Craig Morgan Teicher and Michael Morse. www.theliteraryreview.org
Met Magazine, ed. Ian Christon. www2.mmu.ac.uk/metmagazine
Modern Haiku, ed. Paul Miller. www.modernhaiku.org
Narrative, poetry ed. Michael Wiegers. www.narrativemagazine.com
The Nation, poetry eds. Stephanie Burt and Carmen Giménez Smith. www.thenation.com
The New Criterion, poetry ed. David Yezzi. www.newcriterion.com
New England Review, poetry ed. Rick Barot. www.nereview.com
The New York Times Magazine, selected by Matthew Zapruder. www.nytimes.com/section/magazine
The New Yorker, poetry ed. Kevin Young. www.newyorker.com
The Paris Review, poetry ed. Robyn Creswell. www.theparisreview.org
Parnassus: Poetry in Review, ed. Herbert Leibowitz. www.parnassusreview.com
Plume, editor-in-chief Daniel Lawless. www.plumepoetry.com
Poet Lore, eds. Jody Bolz and E. Ethelbert Miller. www.poetlore.com
Poetry, ed. Don Share. www.poetryfoundation.org
Presence, ed. Mary Ann Buddenberg Miller with Lois Roma-Deeley and Marjorie Maddox. www.catholicpoetryjournal.com
Raritan, editor-in-chief Jackson Lears. www.raritanquarterly.rutgers.edu
Rattle, eds. Alan Fox and Timothy Green. www.rattle.com
Resistance, Rebellion, Life: 50 Poems Now (Knopf, 2017), ed. Amit Majmudar
Seneca Review, eds. David Weiss, Geoffrey Babbitt, and Kathryn Cowles. www.hws.edu/senecareview
The Sewanee Review, poetry ed. Robert Walker. www.thesewaneereview.com
Smartish Pace, ed. Stephen Reichert. www.smartishpace.com
The Southern Review, poetry ed. Jessica Faust. www.thesouthernreview.org
Southern Poetry Review, ed. James Smith. www.southernpoetryreview.com
Southwest Review, editor-in-chief Greg Brownderville. www.smu.edu/SouthwestReview
Southword, ed. Patrick Cotter. www.munsterlit.ie/Southword
The Sun, poetry ed. Carol Ann Fitzgerald. www.thesunmagazine.org
Think Journal, ed. David J. Rothman. www.think-journal.submittable.com
The Threepenny Review, ed. Wendy Lesser. www.threepennyreview.com
Tin House, poetry ed. Camille T. Dungy. www.tinhouse.com
Virginia Quarterly Review, poetry ed. Gregory Pardlo. www.vqronline.org
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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The series editor thanks Mark Bibbins for his invaluable assistance. Warm thanks go also to Stacey Harwood, Thomas Moody, and Virginia Valenzuela; to Glen Hartley and Lynn Chu of Writers’ Representatives; and to Ashley Gilliam, David Stanford Burr, Daniel Cuddy, Erich Hobbing, and Patrick Weir at Scribner.
Grateful acknowledgment is made of the publications in which these poems first appeared and the editors who selected them. A sincere attempt has been made to locate all copyright holders. Unless otherwise noted, copyright to the poems is held by the individual poets.
Allison Adair, “Miscarriage” from Southwest Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Kaveh Akbar, “Against Dying” from Calling a Wolf a Wolf © 2017 by Kaveh Akbar. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Alice James Books. Also appeared in Tin House.
Julia Alvarez, “American Dreams” from America. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
A. R. Ammons, “Finishing Up” from The Complete Poems of A. R. Ammons: Volume 2, 1978–2005 © 2017 by the Estate of A. R. Ammons. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Co. Also appeared in Poetry.
David Barber, “Sherpa Song” from Southwest Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Andrew Bertaina, “A Translator’s Note” from The Threepenny Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Frank Bidart, “Mourning What We Thought We Were” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Bruce Bond, “Anthem” from Denver Quarterly. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
George Bradley, “Those Were the Days” from Raritan. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Joyce Clement, “Birds Punctuate the Days” from Modern Haiku. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Brendan Constantine, “The Opposites Game” from The American Journal of Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Maryann Corbett, “Prayer Concerning the New, More ‘Accurate’ Translation of Certain Prayers” from Rattle. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Robert Cording, “Toast to My Dead Parents” from The Sewanee Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Cynthia Cruz, “Artaud” from Bennington Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Dick Davis, “A Personal Sonnet” from The Hudson Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Warren Decker, “Today’s Special” from T
hink Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Susan de Sola, “The Wives of the Poets” from The Dark Horse. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Dante Di Stefano, “Reading Dostoyevsky at Seventeen” from Met Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Nausheen Eusuf, “Pied Beauty” from Birmingham Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Jonathan Galassi, “Orient Epithalamion” from The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Jessica Goodfellow, “Test” from The Southern Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Sonia Greenfield, “Ghost Ship” from Rattle. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Joy Harjo, “An American Sunrise” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Terrance Hayes, “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” from American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin © 2018 by Terrance Hayes. Reprinted by permission of Penguin Random House. Also appeared in The New Yorker.
Ernest Hilbert, “Mars Ultor” from Academic Questions. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
R. Nemo Hill, “The View from The Bar” from The Hopkins Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Tony Hoagland, “Into the Mystery” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Anna Maria Hong, “Yonder, a Rental” from Ecotone. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Paul Hoover, “I Am the Size of What I See” from Fifth Wednesday Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Marie Howe, “Walking Home” from Magdalene © 2017 by Marie Howe. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Co. Also appeared in The New York Times Magazine.
Mandy Kahn, “Ives” from Glenn Gould’s Chair © 2017 by Mandy Kahn. Reprinted by permission of Eyewear Publishing. Also appeared in Ambit.
Ilya Kaminsky, “We Lived Happily During the War” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Donika Kelly, “Love Poem: Chimera” from Bestiary © 2016 by Donika Kelly. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press. Also appeared in Gulf Coast.
Suji Kwock Kim, “Sono” from Southword. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Karl Kirchwey, “Palazzo Maldura” from Plume. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Nate Klug, “Aconite” from Raritan. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Robin Coste Lewis, “Using Black to Paint Light” from Gulf Coast. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
David Mason, “First Christmas in the Village” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Robert Morgan, “Window” from Southern Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, “Invitation” from Oceanic © 2018 by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Copper Canyon Press. Also appeared in Poetry.
Hieu Minh Nguyen, “B.F.F.” from Not Here © 2018 by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Coffee House Press. Also appeared in BuzzFeed.
Alfred Nicol, “Addendum” from First Things. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Nkosi Nkululeko, “Skin Deep” from The Adroit Journal. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Sheana Ochoa, “Hands” from Catamaran. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Sharon Olds, “Silver Spoon Ode” from The Nation. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Jacqueline Osherow, “Tilia cordata” from The Antioch Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Mike Owens, “Sad Math” from The Way Back © 2017 by Mike Owens. Reprinted by permission of Random Lane Press.
Elise Paschen, “The Week Before She Died” from The Nightlife © 2017 by Elise Paschen. Reprinted by permission of Red Hen Press. Also appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review.
Jessica Piazza, “Bells’ Knells” from Smartish Pace. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Aaron Poochigian, “Happy Birthday, Herod” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Ruben Quesada, “Angels in the Sun” from The American Poetry Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Alexandra Lytton Regalado, “La Mano” from Matria © 2017 by Alexandra Lytton Regalado. Reprinted by permission of Black Lawrence Press. Also appeared in Green Mountains Review.
Paisley Rekdal, “Philomela” from Narrative. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Michael Robbins, “Walkman” from The Paris Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
J. Allyn Rosser, “Personae Who Got Loose” from Copper Nickel. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Mary Ruefle, “Genesis” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Kay Ryan, “Some Transcendent Addiction to the Useless” from Parnassus: Poetry in Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Mary Jo Salter, “We’ll Always Have Parents” from The Surveyors © 2017 by Mary Jo Salter. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf. Also appeared in The Common.
Jason Schneiderman, “Voxel” from The Literary Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Nicole Sealey, “A Violence” from Ordinary Beast © 2017 by Nicole Sealey. Reprinted by permission of Ecco/HarperCollins. Also appeared in The New Yorker.
Michael Shewmaker, “Advent” from The Sewanee Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Carmen Giménez Smith, “Dispatch from Midlife” from Colorado Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Tracy K. Smith, “An Old Story” from Wade in the Water © 2018 by Tracy K. Smith. Reprinted by permission of The Permissions Company, Inc., on behalf of Graywolf Press. Also appeared in The Nation.
Gary Snyder, “Why California Will Never Be Like Tuscany” from Catamaran. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
A. E. Stallings, “Pencil” from The Atlantic. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Anne Stevenson, “How Poems Arrive” from The Hudson Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Adrienne Su, “Substitutions” from New England Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Natasha Trethewey, “Shooting Wild” from Poet Lore. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Agnieszka Tworek, “Grief Runs Untamed” from The Sun. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
G. C. Waldrep, “Dear Office in Which I Must Account for Tears,” from Seneca Review. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Wang Ping, “Lao Jia” from Poetry. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
James Matthew Wilson, “On a Palm” from Presence. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Ryan Wilson, “Face It” from The New Criterion. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
Christian Wiman, “Assembly” from Resistance, Rebellion, Life. Reprinted by permission of the poet.
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ABOUT THE EDITORS
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Guest editor DANA GIOIA is an internationally acclaimed poet and critic. Former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Gioia won the 2018 Poets’ Prize for his collection 99 Poems: New & Selected and currently serves as the Poet Laureate of California.
Series editor DAVID LEHMAN is the author of Poems in the Manner Of, Sinatra’s Century, and The Daily Mirror. The editor of The Oxford Book of American Poetry, he lives in New York City and in Ithaca, New York.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Dana-Gioia
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/David-Lehman
@ScribnerBooks
OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES
John Ashbery, editor, The Best American Poetry 1988
Donald Hall, editor, The Best American Poetry 1989
Jorie Graham, editor, The Best American Poetry 1990
Mark Strand, editor, The Best American Poetry 1991
Charles Simic, editor, The Best American Poetry 1992
Louise Glück, editor, The Best American Poetry 1993
A. R. Ammons, editor, The Best American Poetry 1994
Richard Howard, editor, The Best American Poetry 1995
Adrienne Rich, editor, The Best American Poetry 1996
James Tate, editor, The Best American Poetry 1997
Harold Bloom, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry 1988–1997
John Hollander, editor, The Best American Poetry 1998
Robert Bly, editor, The Best American Poetry 1999
Rita Dove, editor, The Best American Poetry 2000
Robert Hass, editor, The Best American Poetry 2001
Robert Creeley, editor, The Best American Poetry 2002
Yusef Komunyakaa, editor, The Best American Poetry 2003
Lyn Hejinian, editor, The Best American Poetry 2004
Paul Muldoon, editor, The Best American Poetry 2005
Billy Collins, editor, The Best American Poetry 2006
Heather McHugh, editor, The Best American Poetry 2007
Charles Wright, editor, The Best American Poetry 2008
David Wagoner, editor, The Best American Poetry 2009
Amy Gerstler, editor, The Best American Poetry 2010
Kevin Young, editor, The Best American Poetry 2011
Mark Doty, editor, The Best American Poetry 2012
Robert Pinsky, editor, The Best of the Best American Poetry: 25th Anniversary Edition
Denise Duhamel, editor, The Best American Poetry 2013
Terrance Hayes, editor, The Best American Poetry 2014
Sherman Alexie, editor, The Best American Poetry 2015
Edward Hirsch, editor, The Best American Poetry 2016