As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home, but no matter where she was transplanted she was able to turn to our world's fierce and funny creatures for guidance. The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, she found that this was the way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world's gifts--Provided by publisher.
As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home, but no matter where she was transplanted she was able to turn to our world's fierce and funny creatures for guidance. The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, she found that this was the way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world's gifts--Provided by publisher.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of four collections of poems, including, most recently, Oceanic, winner of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Other awards for her writing include fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Mississippi Arts Council, and MacDowell. Her writing appears in Poetry, the New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and Tin House. She serves as poetry faculty for the Writing Workshops in Greece and is professor of English and creative writing in the University of Mississippi’s MFA program. Fumi Nakamura is a street artist, illustrator, and designer. Originally from Shimizu, Japan, her family moved to California when she was twelve. Her intense and sometimes eerie graphite and coloured pencil artworks have been featured in exhibitions around the world. Nakamura holds a bachelor's in Pictorial Arts from San Jose State University. She lives in New York City.
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Catalpa Tree 1 Firefly 9 Peacock 15 Comb Jelly 20 Touch-Me-Nots 25 Cactus Wren 28 Narwhal 35 Axolotl 43 Dancing Frog 49 Vampire Squid 53 Monsoon 58 Corpse Flower 69 Bonnet Macaque 74 Calendars Poetica 79 Whale Shark 85 Potoo 93 Cara Cara Orange 98 Octopus 103 Grey Cockatiel 108 Dragon Fruit 113 Flamingo 116 Ribbon Eel 123 Questions While Searching for Birds with My Half-White Sons, Aged Six and Nine, National Audubon Bird Count Day, Oxford, MS 128 Superb Bird of Paradise 133 Red-Spotted Newt 138 Southern Cassowary 145 Monarch Butterfly 151 Barreleye Fish: An Abecedarian 157 Dandelion 169 South Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher 173 Candle Larkspur 181 Firefly (Redux) 183 Acknowledgments 189 Reader’s Guide 195 Teaching Guide 221
