Because What Else Could I Do is a sequence of fifty-five untitled short poems, almost all of them addressed to the poet's husband during the six months following his sudden and shocking death. Perhaps best known for her historical explorations of sociopolitical issues, Martha Collins did not originally intend to publish these poems. But while they are intensely personal, they make use of all of her poetic attention and skills. Spare, fragmented, musical even in their most heartbreaking moments, the poems allow the reader to share both an intimate expression the poet's grief and a moving record of her attempt to comprehend the events surrounding her loss.

About the Author
Martha Collins is the author of nine previous books of poetry, including Admit One: An American Scrapbook, White Papers, and the book-length poem Blue Front, as well as the paired volumes Night Unto Night and Day Unto Day. Collins has also published four

Reviews
'Collins renders the most humbling, gorgeous, and inscrutable features of human existence as if they might be made legible.'- Publishers Weekly, starred review

'Musically brilliant, psychologically intricate, movingly humane- Martha Collins is one of our most vital poets.'- Kevin Prufer

'A dazzling poet whose poetry is poised at the juncture between the lyric and ethics. Those who have followed Collins' books have long since realized that no subject is off limits for her piercing intellect.'- AWP Chronicle

'A longtime poet of sociopolitical engagement, Martha Collins has been mining the complexities of language and syntax for wordplay, precision, and multiplicity like no other contemporary American poet I can think of.'- Wayne Miller



Book Information
ISBN 9780822965916
Author Martha Collins
Format Paperback
Page Count 64
Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher University of Pittsburgh Press