An exuberant collection celebrating the body and the soul of language, wringing delights and amazements out of the latter years of life.

In his seventh decade and seventh full length collection, poet James P. Lenfestey dazzles with a suite of odes to parts of the body-heart, belly, ankle, teeth, ears, and more-and astonishment at the powers of language: "the sound of 'n,'" our ancient alphabet, "the terror of publishing." Known for his exuberant Chinese-style lyrics, now inspired by Neruda's cascading Elemental Odes, Lenfestey praises Hewlett and Packard, Bruce Springsteen, "the language of crow," fruit flies, and cabbages while recalling the "forgiveness of the Catbird" and random acts of kindness, all with his superb ear for sound, rhythm, and leaping figurative language.

Rhythmic, jovial, and eminently approachable, this collection embraces the Cetacean mind and the fearless left hand. Here, Lenfesty writes love songs to the world "as it really is: bizarro, curious, inelegant, unclean, / unfaithful, filled with delight."

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About the Author

James P. Lenfestey is the author of Seeking the Cave: A Pilgrimage to Cold Mountain, a Minnesota Book Award finalist, and multiple collections of essays and poems, including A Marriage Book. He is also the editor of multiple anthologies, including Robert Bly in This World. Lenfestey is a former college English instructor, alternative school administrator, marketing communications consultant, and editorial writer for the Star Tribune, where he won several Page One awards for excellence. As a journalist, he covers education, energy policy, and climate science. He is chair of the Literary Witnesses poetry series, teaches at the Mackinac Island Poetry Festival, and lives in Minneapolis with his wife.

Reviews
Praise for Time Remaining

"James P. Lenfestey is a poet who loves the world, the body, language, and the work of other poets, deeply. He writes out of a place of wonder, curiosity, and joy. This volume has wisdom and wit, sustenance for the indignities of age. There is friendship and fellowship to be had in these pages."-Sarah Ruhl, author of Love Poems in Quarantine

"Not surprisingly, given its subtitle-'Body Odes, Praise Songs, Oddities, Amazements'-this is a joyful book. What brings joy in these poems is, however, often something unexpected and to be cherished all the more for that reason. What is perhaps most surprising, and most touching, is the melancholy that underlies the joy in some of the book's most powerful poems. 'The Forgiveness of the Catbird,' for example, is filled in equal measure with both love and regret. Time Remaining is the perfect title for a book that says, in every poem, there are so many ways to love the world and be amazed by it: don't leave any out! There is genuine wisdom in this book, hard won and generous. A book to treasure for its many ways of opening the reader to the world in all its amazements."-Jim Moore, author of Prognosis

"Time Remaining is a wonder-filled collection, composed with some of Neruda's spirit as distilled through the meditative, clear language of the ancient Chinese poets for whom James P. Lenfestey has felt long affection and affinity. One of the most open, life-affirming, generous writers you'll ever encounter."-Connie Wanek, author of Consider the Lilies

"What a marvelous collection of joy, generosity, and wisdom! Lenfestey devoted his life to freeing poetry fossilized by daily grimes, to letting language sing and dance again so we can have a glimpse of beauty and love. He succeeded greatly."-Wang Ping, author of My Name Is Immigrant

Book Information
ISBN 9781571315748
Author James P. Lenfestey
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint Milkweed Editions
Publisher Milkweed Editions