Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007-2012 - Softcover

"This ancient poetic theme--how to live in order to live beyond life--runs throughout this massive book, unifying the staggering profusion of forms and contents and linguistic registers." --Justin Clemens, the Australian, on Collected Poems "Spanning 55 years in 550 pages, the book has a monumental feel to it. Yet, for all its solid weightiness, it is the brightness and clarity of the poetry that lingers. . . . Miles from gridlocked traffic and urban development, these poems are like a timeless evening walk--be it at Karekare or Takapuna--in the most agreeable and engaging of company." --Gregory O'Brien, poet, Metro

C. K. Stead has always swum through literature, cultures, surroundings both physical and social, with a deft stroke. Completed in his eightieth year, The Yellow Buoy sees the poet firmly attached to his memories, attuned to his craft and attentive to his world. The book is divided into three parts: `The Yellow Buoy', `The Silence' and `The Green Enclave'. Here, in classic vein, Catullus returns to receive the ONZ, write to friends and `read the world'. Various other literary fellows appear in person, dream or conversation - Allen Curnow and Hugh Kawharu, Frank Sargeson and Barry Humphries, Creeley, Mansfield and Wordsworth. The collection also includes warmly translated versions of poems by Eugenio Montale, Carlo Vita and Philippe Jaccottet; alongside glimpses of fantails and elegies for friends. From sonnets to syllabics, with settings ranging from Croatia and Colombia to Karekare and the Cote d'Azur, these masterly poems urge a reader to stay alert - to pay attention to `the poetic moment / so easily missed, / so quickly lost.'