9780299282943

Summary

Inspired by actual case histories of long-term missing African American children, this provocative and heartrending collection of poems evokes the experience of what it means to be among the missing in contemporary America. This thought-provoking collection of persona poems looks at absence from the standpoint of the witnesses surrounding the void and offers an intimate depiction of those impossible moments of aftermath lived by those who remain accounted for and present. While enabling us to question our own sense of identity, this unique collection of poems reveals the blurred edges of separation between them and us and the impact that the missing have upon our present and future.

Author Biography

Jacqueline Jones LaMon is associate professor of English and director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Adelphi University. She is author of the poetry collection Gravity, U.S.A. and the novel In the Arms of One Who Loves Me. Her poems have appeared in such journals as the Bellevue Literary Review, Crab Orchard Review, Mythium, and RATTLE.

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Polygraph: The Control Questions
Who are you and whom do you love?	p. 3
Where did you come from / how did you arrive?	p. 4
How will you begin?	p. 5
How will you live now?	p. 6
What is the shape of your body?	p. 7
Who is responsible for the suffering of your mother?	p. 8
The Elsewhere Chronicles
Preface	p. 11
Mrs. Minor Gives Directions to Strangers	p. 12
Two Waffles and a Tall Glass of Milk	p. 13
The Clairvoyant Channels Clea Hall	p. 14
Florida Keys Unidentified	p. 15
Ten Items or Less	p. 16
The Age-Progression Artist Pencils Thicker Lashes	p. 17
A Suspect Mother Answers during Polygraph	p. 18
ôLet Me Run Upstairs and Get My Purse …ö	p. 19
Back Roads	p. 20
How the Bryant Boy Will Know	p. 21
The Facial Reconstructionist Has Cocktails with the Girls	p. 22
Inheritance	p. 23
Loony 'Toons	p. 24
Last Seen	p. 25
The Network News Director Addresses His Process of Selection	p. 26
For My Husband, Who Took Our Daughter to the Park So I Could Get Some Rest, Then Fell Asleep and Awakened to an Empty Stroller	p. 27
Boy Met Girl
At the Carnival, Near Prospect Park	p. 31
Through a Mutual Friend	p. 32
At Lance and Carol's Wedding	p. 33
In July, at Nathan's Clam Bar	p. 34
On the Tennis Courts	p. 35
At B. Altman's Department Store	p. 36
On the Subway	p. 37
At Rockaway Beach, in Late June	p. 38
At Claire's Father's Funeral	p. 39
The San Francisco Sonnets
The Taker Returns from a Ten-Minute Break	p. 43
San Francisco Bridge Suicide Jumper Considers Relativity	p. 44
The Missing Girl's Sister	p. 45
Prom King Goes Stag His Senior Year	p. 46
The Junior Detective's Wife Speaks Out on the Day of Their Divorce	p. 47
The Missing Gill's Mother	p. 48
Priest Refuses Comment on Accident Driver's Acquittal	p. 49
Olympic Hopeful Assesses Her Victory	p. 50
The Missing Girl's Cousin	p. 51
The Present Song of Seagulls on the San Francisco Bay	p. 52
The Missing Girl's Boyfriend	p. 53
The Teacher Prepares the Crisis Counseling Team	p. 54
Couple Tours Alcatraz on Their Silver Anniversary	p. 55
The Missing Girl's Father	p. 56
Polygraph: The Guilty Knowledge Test
…	p. 59
What do you remember about the earth?	p. 60
What are the consequences of silence?	p. 61
Tell me what you know about dismemberment	p. 62
Describe a morning you woke without fear	p. 63
And what would you say it you could?	p. 64
How will you / have you prepare(d) for your death?	p. 66
Note	p. 67
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