“Four Cut Sunflowers, One Upside Down” is titled after van Gogh; both this poem and “Two Ruined Boats” are indebted to Manlio Brusatin’s The History of Colors.
“Grosse Fuge” is for Robert Shore, 1948–1993.
“A Letter from the Coast” is for Lynda Hull, 1954–1994.
“Breakwater” is for Herbert Morris.
The section of “Atlantis” entitled “Michael’s Dream” is for Michael Trombley, Stephen Housewright, Maggie Valentine, Carlos Melendez, and Marie Howe. The section entitled “Coastal” is for Darren Otto.
“Tunnel Music” is for Philip Levine.
“Migratory” is after Hayden Carruth’s “No Matter What, After All, and That Beautiful Word So.”
“Homo Will Not Inherit” is for Michael Carter.
“Nocturne in Black and Gold” is titled after Whistler.
“Aubade: Opal and Silver,” also titled after Whistler, is for Rena Blauner.
As well as for Wally Roberts (1951–1994), this book is for the many people, more than I can name, who helped to carry him during the last year of his life. O World, I cannot bold thee close enough.