LACE & PYRITE: LETTERS FROM TWO GARDENS

Co-Authored with Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Purchase from Get Fresh Books / $10

Originally published by Organic Weapon Arts in 2014, Lace & Pyrite: Letters from Two Gardens captures seasonal changes and life unfolding from the perspective of two gardens: Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil. What began as an unprompted poem correspondence between the two poets in the late July swelter of 2011 blossomed into a beautiful collection of epistolary poetry. 

From the introduction: “We began a poem correspondence, based on no prompts, no assignments— just that we were to send a poem at least once a week, maybe more if we were lucky. No commentary needed. Happy mail.

After almost a year of writing to each other, together we boarded a train bound for the Millay Colony for the Arts in the Berkshires in upstate New York. There, we met with several other writer friends (who were also working on independent projects of their own), and revised and finished this series of epistolary poems. Our collaborative chapbook, LACE & PYRITE is how we made sense and record of a full year from our respective gardens.

There’s bounty, yes; but there’s loss and sorrow too: like a garden, like a life. But as the leaf buds start swelling, as they start, even, unfurling—right around the corner!—it’s time to focus on bounty: sing at the crocuses, get those peas in. Make friends with someone who has a rhubarb patch. See if the community garden has a plot with your name on it. Find someone to help navigate this world in words. In fact, we’re digging into another poetry collaboration about trees as we type this, and hope it will be ready soon!”

—Ross Gay & Aimee Nezhukumatathil