The Boatloads

Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of The Boatloads is its overt references to church and Christianity. Albergotti’s references are not mere proselytizing though. In fact, the first poem in the book – Vestibule – tells the story of the author’s teenage experience making love to his girlfriend in a university chapel, saying, “Lord of this other world, let me recall that night./Let me again hear how our whispered exclamations/near the end seemed like rising hymnal rhythm/and let me feel how those forgotten words came/from somewhere else and meant something.” Albergotti manages to depict the struggles, joys, confusion, and striving of a young man coming to terms with his religious upbringing and making decisions about how that training will play out in his adult life. In his eyes, the path to salvation is crooked and meandering, but never broken. "Dan Albergotti’s first book, The Boatloads, is filled with the spirit of mystery. It is a startling achievement that begins in wonder and ends in awe."--Edward Hirsch "This extraordinary poem, at first comic and blasphemous, is really about relocating and defining the sacred...Even if it weren't the winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, The Boatloads would still be an impressive debut."--The Hudson Review "Albergotti’s gift is a lyrical reinvention of stories that we thought we knew.  In poems that are immediate and accessible, he considers God, beauty, love, and lives that unexpectedly match our own." –Ron Slate Blog

The Mystery of the Great Blue Heron

The poet tries to make the heron a god,
but the heron does not care. The heron
wades along the shore, a dark body
absorbing light, patience stopping time.
The poet makes sounds like prayer,
but the heron is merely annoyed, stepping
into the air and pulling with broad wings.
The poet carefully records a sacred text,
but the heron has found a hidden pool
among the small trees and stands there
all day, staring coldly into the water,
far from the songs, from the blood,
from all the voices that beg for mercy.

© BOA Editions, Ltd 2008

Available editions:
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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-934414-03-3
Price: $16.00
Publishing Date: April 2008