Selected Poems of Patricia Keeney

Kimberly Fahner is the author of You Must Imagine the Cold Here.

Fans of Patricia Keeney’s earlier books, which include Swimming Alone,
New Moon, Old Mattress, and The New Pagans, will cherish this volume of
selected poems.

A primary focus is the poet’s evolution as both artist and private
individual. As she ponders the difficulty of personal growth and the
reinvention of the self, she contemplates the familiar cliché that
nothing ever stays the same: “My images of future are all behind me. /
I’m on the road again, going / The centre shifts, melts, vanquishes
equal distribution / among people and work. My familiars have fled.”
The poet comes to respect the inevitability of change in human
relationships. In “Roshen,” an old Indian woman tells her, “You
must know when to let go.”

Keeney’s poems leave the reader feeling “won by wit and
gentleness.”