Deborah Keenan's Willow Room, Green Door

Willow Room, Green Door: New and Selected Poems by Deborah Keenan

Some favorite quotes:

It's a book about summer, so cottonwoods and the river are key-

"She has to remember that forty-nine dead in London outweigh thousands of dead women, children, and men in Iraq and Afghanistan."

It's a poem about summer and summer is over-
The Gulf Coast washed out to sea, the dead bodies
Colliding with the oil rigs washed to shore.
New Orleans destroyed, and the National Guard
Who long to help their country instead patrol the dusty
streets and lethal highways of Iraq. It's a poem about summer,
So we thank God that our president had
To cut only two days off his vacation to direct
The vast rescue and rebuilding operations;..."

The man who knew about winter-

"He didn't understand why, she kept on not leaving, and that was
good enough for him."

Divorce-

"I'd like to be proud of all the things I've resolved never to
learn how to do, as if to prove that everything I know how to
do is enough, and it's time to rest."

Why they belong together-
"My baby's arms are outstretched with passion toward the dog
coming down the street toward us. Clearly he could take her face
off before I could stop him, but she offers herself up, her face
a pond for every dog she embraces."