7 fishermen. And now / fishermen and NK
fishermen and now WI, Sou’wester Literary Quarterly
8 on the snow and move upstream, slowly, NK, WI
on the snow and move upstream, slowly Sou’wester Literary Quarterly
9 full of love, growing older with each step. NK, WI, Sou’wester Literary Quarterly
29 AUTUMN: in NK [15], Quarry West [Univ. of California, Santa Cruz] 6 (1976): n.p., ANTSM 38.
1 yardful / yard full NK
7 [no indentation in NK, Quarry West, ANTSM]
10 logging gear / marine-gear NK
11—12 [stanza break between these lines in NK, Quarry West, ANTSM]
13 Slowly / And slowly NK, Quarry West, ANTSM
15 towards high water, the jack- NK, Quarry West, ANTSM
16 salmon and the sea-run cutthroat. NK, ANTSM
salmon and sea-run cutthroat. Quarry West
30 WINTER INSOMNIA: in WI 23. The version in WI prints the four stanzas in an alternate sequence:
The mind would like to get out of here
Onto the snow. It would like to run
With a pack of shaggy animals, all teeth,
Under the moon, across the snow, leaving
No prints or spoor, nothing behind.
The mind is sick tonight.
It wishes Chekov were here to minister
Something—three drops of valerian, a glass
Of rose water—anything, it wouldn’t matter.
The mind can’t sleep, can only lie awake and
Gorge, and listen to the snow gathering
For the final assault.
31 PROSSER: 1st in Kayak [Santa Cruz, Calif.] 28 (1972): 62; in ANTSM 12.
15 Ah, but everything is forgotten, almost everything, 1st, ANTSM
24 hills / the hills 1st
26 still: / still. 1st
32 AT NIGHT THE SALMON MOVE: in ANTSM 14, Poetry Now [Eureka, Calif.] 15—18 [3.3—6] (1977): 19; separately published as a broadside (Santa Barbara, Calif.: Capra Press, 1983).
4 like Foster’s, A&W, and Smiley’s, ANTSM, Poetry Now
6 Wright Avenue / Wright ANTSM, Poetry Now
33 WITH A TELESCOPE ROD ON COWICHE CREEK: in NK [14], WI 18, Prism International [Univ. of British Columbia] 21.2 (Winter 1982): 26. All lines begin with capital letters in NK and WI.
2 direction / ambition NK, WI
7 pine / the NK, WI
34 POEM FOR DR PRATT, A LADY PATHOLOGIST: in NK [16—17], WI 45, Carolina Quarterly [Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill] 23.3 (Fall 1971): 48. All lines begin with capital letters in NK, WI, and Carolina Quarterly.
Title: “Poem for a Lady Pathologist” NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
5 McCormick / Cormac NK, Carolina Quarterly
8 And their disinfectant. They pretend I am not NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
11—12 They embrace. Gradually,
The room begins to fill with leaves.
I am afraid. NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
13 Sunlight. / Sunlight. I hear sprinklers. NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
17—18 A green desk floats by the window.
I begin to void. NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
19 lies / sits NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
20 Of affection, while her tiny NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
21 Probing fingers rummage the endless strings NK, WI
Fingers rummage the endless strings Carolina Quarterly
22 Of entrails. These considerations aside, NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
24 hands / tiny hands NK, WI
25 I’m / I am NK, WI, Carolina Quarterly
35 WES HARDIN: FROM A PHOTOGRAPH: 1st in Western Humanities Review [Univ. of Utah] 19.3 (Summer 1965): 223; in NK [3—4], WI 21.
3 outlaw, / outlaw 1st, NK, WI
29 [omitted in 1st, NK, WI]
30—1 but what makes me stare is this large
dark bullethole 1st, NK, WI
33 right hand. / lefthand. 1st, NK, WI
36 MARRIAGE: in Akros Review [Univ. of Akron] 5 (Fall 1981): 74—5.
29 children / children I fear Akros Review
37 THE OTHER LIFE: in Missouri Review [Univ. of Missouri, Columbia] 3.2 (Winter 1980): 16.
3,5 scratch, scratch / scratch, scratch Missouri Review
38 THE MAILMAN AS CANCER PATIENT: 1st in Levee [Sacramento State Univ.] 2.2 (Jan. 1967): 6—7; in NK [9—10], ANTSM 41, Tendril [Green Harbor, Mass.] 11 (Summer 1981): 16. In Levee the poem is titled “Ca*”, with a footnote expanding the abbreviation: “*Cancer.”
4 they’ll hold the job - / they will hold the job, 1st, ANTSM
they will hold the job NK
5 and, besides,
he needed a rest. 1st, NK
13 book / book, 1st, NK, ANTSM, Tendril
16 yet / and 1st
but NK, ANTSM, Tendril
16—17 [stanza break between these lines in NK]
17 But sometimes / Yet sometimes NK, ANTSM
Sometimes Tendril
18 bed / bed, 1st, NK
22 for / worst, for 1st
worst for NK
23 there’s / there is ANTSM, Tendril
there is nothing left
of them, nothing
whole to cling to; it is 1st, NK
24 he’d / he had 1st, NK, ANTSM, Tendril
25 anywhere, never done anything, 1st, NK
never met anybody; 1st
never met anybody: NK
26 room / now 1st, NK
27—9 and he can only press
his lips with his fingers
and wait to go
where the mad blood takes him. 1st
39 POEM FOR HEMINGWAY & W. C. WILLIAMS: in ANTSM 31.
27 disappear / disappear again ANTSM
29 light, / light ANTSM
40 TORTURE: 1st in Mississippi Review [Univ. of Southern Mississippi] 21 [7.3] (Fall 1978): 116—17; in Prism International [Univ. of British Columbia] 21.2 (Winter 1982): 27.
8—9 nice people don’t talk about in classrooms.
You want to be tied down and moan.
You want to tell everything you know. 1st
14 and / again and 1st
31 wide / the wide 1st
41 BOBBER: in NK [29], Quarry West [Univ. of California, Santa Cruz] 6 (1976): n.p., ANTSM 39, Poetry Now [Eureka, Calif.] 15—18 [3.3—6] (1977): 19. This poem exists in two early versions. The first version appears in NK:
On the Columbia River near Vantage
Washington we fished for whitefish
In the winter months of November,
December, and January; my dad, Swede -
Mr Lindgren—and I. They used belly-reels,
Pencil-lead sinkers, red, yellow, or brown
Whitefish flies baited with maggots.
They wanted distance and they got out there,
Clear out to the edge of the riffle.
I fished in close with a quill bobber
And a cane pole. It was always cold,
Always early in the morning, and
Sometimes the line froze to the guides
after each cast.
My dad kept his maggots alive and warm
Under his lower lip. Mr Lindgren didn’t drink.
I liked him better than my dad for a time.
He let me steer his car, teased me
About my name “Junior,” and one day
Said I would grow into a fine man,
Remember all this, and fish with my own son.
But my dad was right. He just kept silent,
Stroked his chin, and went on
Pissing an arc into the river.
The second version, printed in Quarry West, ANTSM, and Poetry Now (each with variants), preserves many features of the NK text. At the same time, it more closely resembles the version in Fires, from which it differs as follows:
2 Washington, / Washington ANTSM, Poetry Now
3—4 in the winter months of November,
December, and January; my dad, Swe
de —
Mr Lindgren—and I. They used belly-reels, Quarry
West, ANTSM, Poetry Now
7 went clear / they got Quarry West, ANTSM, Poetry Now
8 to / clear to Quarry West
clear out to ANTSM, Poetry Now
14—16 about my name “Junior”, and one day
said I would grow into a fine man,
remember all this, and fish with my own son. Quarry
West, ANTSM, Poetry Now
18—19 he kept silent, stroked his chin,
and went on pissing an arc into the river. Quarry
West, ANTSM, Poetry Now
42 HIGHWAY 99E FROM CHICO: in NK [8], Midwest Quarterly [Pittsburg (Kans.) State Univ.] 11.1 (Oct. 1969): 49, WI 28. All lines begin with capital letters in NK, Midwest Quarterly, and WI
Title: “Highway 99E from Chico: November 1966” NK, WI
“Highway 99E from Chico: November 1967” Midwest Quarterly
43 THE COUGAR: 1st in CutBank [Univ. of Montana, Missoula] 1 (1973): 31; in ANTSM 28—9. All lines begin with capital letters in 1st
Dedication: For Keith Wilson and John Haines 1st
for Keith Wilson and John Haines ANTSM
15 put it / put ANTSM
24 Southwest, / Southwest 1st, ANTSM
25 poet / And all, poet 1st
27 writer / fiction writer 1st 32 me / me 1st, ANTSM
33 clear / clean 1st
44 THE CURRENT: 1st in Levee [Sacramento State Univ.] 2.2 (Jan. 1967): 4; in NK [34], WI 54, Sou’wester Literary Quarterly [Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville] Winter 1972:35, ANTSM 40. This is the only poem that appears in all three of RC’s small-press poetry books: NK, WI, and ANTSM. In Levee the entire poem is set in capital letters.
Title: “These Fish” Levee, NK, WI, Sou’wester, ANTSM
3 that scatter their roe and their milt Levee, NK, WI,
Sou’wester, ANTSM
5—6 But there is one that comes —
heavy, scarred,
sightless like the rest, Levee, NK, WI
silent like the rest, Sou’wester, ANTSM
6—7 [stanza break between these lines in Levee, NK, WI, Sou’wester, ANTSM]
7—8 [no stanza break in Levee, NK, WI, Sou’wester, ANTSM]
8—10 opening and closing its dark mouth
against the current. Levee, NK, WI, Sou’wester, ANTSM
45 HUNTER: in NK [18]; in Esquire [New York, NY] 76.1 (July 1971): 14, ANTSM 27. All flush-left lines begin with capital letters in NK and Esquire.
Tide: “The Hunter” NK
1 on top of / here at the very top of NK
on top Esquire, ANTSM
7 There’s / There is NK, Esquire, ANTSM
8 can’t / cannot NK, Esquire, ANTSM
9 underwear, / underwear NK, Esquire, ANTSM
10—11 [no stanza break in NK]
11 Suddenly,
Her hand raises in alarm - NK, Esquire
her hand rises in alarm—ANTSM
14—17 It is December, three o’clock of a Sunday afternoon. NK
46 TRYING TO SLEEP LATE ON A SATURDAY MORNING IN NOVEMBER: 1st in Chelsea [New York, NY] 22—3 (June 1968): 58; in NK [24], ANTSM 13. All lines begin with capital letters in 1st and NK.
3—4 We are approaching the
Third and final phase, this 1st
third and final phase, this ANTSM
14 fishermen / fisherman 1st, NK, ANTSM
20—2 My hair crawls.
I begin to sweat under all the bedclothes. 1st, NK,
ANTSM
47 LOUISE: 1st in Ironwood [Tucson, Ariz.] 19 [10.1] (Spring 1982): 133; separately published with “The Baker” in Two Poems (Salisbury, Md.: Scarab Press, 1982).
25 back - / back. She Two Poems
25—6 and steps back from this near human shape. 1st
48 POEM FOR KARL WALLENDA, AERIALIST SUPREME: 1st in Kayak [Santa Cruz, Calif.] 57 (1981): 27.
2—3 all over Magdeburg. In Vienna wind looked
for you in first one courtyard then another. 1st
8 the / those 1st
27—32 on the first day of spring, that wind which has been
everywhere and done everything with you,
it comes in from the Caribbean
to throw itself once and for all into your arms, like a young lover!
Your hair crawls. You try to crouch, to reach for wire. 1st
49 DESCHUTES RIVER: 1st in Western Humanities Review [Univ. of Utah] 21.1 (Winter 1967): 56; in NK [5—6], Esquire [New York, NY] 76.2 (Aug. 1971): 76, ANTSM 32.
4 so that / that 1st, NK, Esquire, ANTSM
14 Later,
eight mallard ducks fly over 1st, NK, Esquire, ANTSM
16 Frank / Jack 1st, NK, Esquire, ANTSM
23 away - / away, 1st, NK, Esquire, ANTSM
50 FOREVER: 1st in Kayak [Santa Cruz, Calif.] 16 (1968): 50; in WI 30.
Title: “The Wall” 1st, WI
9 entire / whole 1st, WI
12 tonight / tonight, 1st, WI
24 down / down and wander 1st, WI
25—6 back into the house. They are still
there, God help them all, waiting, 1st, WI
27 faces / faces now 1st, WI
Where Water Comes Together with Other Water
First edition: New York, NY: Random House, 1985. Publication date: 1 May 1985.
First paperback edition: New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1986. Publication date: 24 Apr. 1986.
First selected and combined English edition: In a Marine Light: Selected Poems. London: Collins Harvill, 1987. Publication date: 1 June 1987.
Dedication: for Tess Gallagher and Morris R. Bond. Morris R. Bond is Tess Gallagher’s brother, a writer, outdoorsman, and native of Port Angeles, Washington.
Copy-text: First edition, first printing, collated and corrected against later editions and printings overseen by RC.
Small-press sources and separate publications: My Crow (Ewert, 1984), For Tess (Ewert, 1984), TW (Ewert, 1985), Music (Ewert, 1987), Afghanistan (Ewert, 1988), In the Year 2020 (Okeanos, 1993).
1 WOOLWORTH’S, 1954: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 42—4; in TW 11—13, IAML 18—20.
4—5 telling me he’d be here in a few minutes
to go clamming IAML
5 go / take me TW
9 a stockboy like I was. He’d been 1st, TW
10 there forever, and had worked his way 1st
there forever. Had worked his way TW
19 knew. He was / knew. Was AUP
21—2 Most important memory of that
time: opening 1st
Most important memory of that whole
time coming back to me now: opening TW
32 I got / got 1st, TW
39 happened. / happened! 1st, TW, AUP
45 skin. / skin! 1st, TW
49 calves! / calves. TW
71 sister, / sister IAML
72 girls. / girls, TW, AUP
73 Grownup / grownup TW
74 I’ll say it: dead. / I’ll say it: Dead. 1st
Need I say it? Dead. TW
2 RADIO WAVES: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 37—8; in IAML 152—3.
5 want to / want 1st
12 the papers / newspapers 1st
13 get away / absent myself 1st
20 trustworthy / to be trusted 1st
25 It didn’t matter, it said, even if a man sang. 1st
32 Then, Machado, the advent of your poetry in my life! 1st
35 and / but 1st
48 it / your book 1st
3 MOVEMENT: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 40.
11 slack. / slack! 1st
12 for / For 1st
4 HOMINY AND RAIN: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 49—50; in IAML 150—1.
15 be true. That they smelled like that. Those blossoms. I can’t say. 1st
41 though that / though AUP
5 THE ROAD: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 39.
8 glass / tiles in the courtyard 1st
16 curtain / curtains 1st
6 FEAR: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 41; in IAML 155.
21 of waking / I’ll wake 1st
7 ROMANTICISM: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 51; in IAML 62.
Dedication: (For my friend Linda Gregg, after reading “Classicism”) 1st
8 THE ASHTRAY: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 45—6.
2 apartment / flat 1st
9 cigarettes and ashes during this painful conversation. 1st
37 harm? / harm? he thinks. 1st
9 STILL LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE: 1st in Paris Review [Flushing, NY] 26.93 (Fall 1984): 48; in IAML 40.
17 I can’t / can’t 1st, AUP
10 WHERE WATER COMES TOGETHER WITH OTHER WATER: 1st in Tendril [Green Harbor, Mass.] 19—20 (1985): 403; in TW 19, IAML 194—5.
10 join / meet TW
16 or / and 1st, TW
22 45 / forty-five 1st, TW, AUP
24, 25 35 / thirty-five 1st, TW, AUP
11 HAPPINESS: 1st in Poetry [Chicago, Ill.] 145.5 (Feb. 1985): 251; in IAML 15.
8 wear / have on 1st
9 one / the one 1st, AUP
18 pale / palely 1st
20 love, / love 1st
12 THE OLD DAYS: 1st in Pequod [National Poetry Foundation, Univ. of Maine, Orono] 18 (1985): 50—1; in IAML 179—80.
11 food / dinner 1st
16—17 [no stanza break in 1st]
18—19 as he was going upstairs with
it and talked him down. 1st
48 for trouble / to be used 1st
13 OUR FIRST HOUSE IN SACRAMENTO: 1st in Pequod [National Poetry Foundation, Univ. of Maine, Orono] 18 (1985): 47; in TW 16, IAML 42—3.
27 firsthand / from first-hand 1st, TW
from firsthand AUP
30 a / the 1st, TW, AUP
14 NEXT YEAR: 1st in Grand Street [New York, NY] 4.2 (Winter 1985): 88; in IAML 54—5.
23 out of / out. Out of 1st
15 TO MY DAUGHTER: in IAML 56—7.
16 ANATHEMA: 1st in Tendril [Green Harbor, Mass.] 19—20 (1985): 427; in IAML 63—4.
24 in / by the 1st, AUP
36 around would / would IAML
17 ENERGY: 1st in Crazyhorse [Univ. of Arkansas, Little Rock] 27 (Fall 1984): 10; in Tendril [Green Harbor, Mass.] 19—20 (1985): 428, IAML 50.
30 relentlessly / remorselessly Tendril
18 LOCKING YOURSELF OUT, THEN TRYING TO GET BACK IN: 1st in Pequod [National Poetry Foundation, Univ. of Maine, Orono] 18 (1985): 48—9; in IAML 177—8.