A new chapbook of poems, written since Garren’s The Piercing appeared in 2006, will be published by 42 Miles Press in late summer/fall, 2010. Here is a sample, a poem that originally appeared in Poetry:

The Water

they fetched the water

and then when they reached the house, it was useless

fecal and chemical–

miles they’d walked– a life

along a ridge on into the next country, to the covert waterfall–

had they been dreaming?

yes, they had been dreaming–

that was her favorite part– the dream part– all the sun and

chrysanthemums

and the poppies

by a church wall– the dream part

when the water gatherers were certain

they could ease their mother’s dying