Among the Musk Ox People

by Ruefle Mary, Mary Ruefle

Book by Ruefle, Mary

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Janée Baugher · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite poems in this collection (i.e. ones that I love rereading and teaching) are the prose poem, "The Bench" and "Operation Candor."

[Jesica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notable poems : On Tears, The Raft, Patina, 10 April, Against the Sky

[Krzysztof · Rating 2 out of 5]

My favorite one:

Full Moon

The white spot to the upper left
which looks like the pith plug
in a peeled orange is the crater Tycho.
I have never been there. Perhaps one day
you will. I saw many jackets in the coatroom
but none of them were his. I know someone
who is alive somewhere.
It is embarrassing to be alive.
Sometimes you have to stand out on the street
and look upwards, and then you have to pretend
the stone at your feet
is not an object of observation,
when it is.

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Ruefle's work continues to strike a chord with me. I find myself texting photos of her poems to friends. Not something that I usually do. A few favorites: "Cum Grano Salis" and "'The Philosophy of the Astonished'" and "Patina" and "Full Moon" and "Hounds" and "The Bench" and...

[Juliet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like as much as I thought I would.

Here's one line I did like, though:

"They say dolls outlast all other forms of life"