Bucolics

Untitled and unpunctuated, the seventy poems in this acclaimed collection seem to cascade from one page to another. Maurice Manning extolls the virtues of nature and its many gifts, and finds deep gratitude for the mysterious hand that created it all.

that bare branch that branch made black

by the rain the silver raindrop

hanging from the black branch

Boss I like that black branch

I like that shiny raindrop Boss

tell me if I’m wrong but it makes

me think you’re looking right

at me now isn’t that a lark for me

to think you look that way

upside down like a tree frog

Boss I’m not surprised at all

I wouldn’t doubt it for

a minute you’re always up

to something I’ll say one thing

you’re all right all right you are

even when you’re hanging Boss

What happens when a poet speaks to God as a farmhand speaks to his boss?

• Contemplative Poetry: Manning’s seventy unpunctuated poems cascade from one page to the next, wrestling with faith, gratitude, and the mystery of creation.
• A Unique Conversational Tone: Each poem is a direct address to "Boss," a powerful and enigmatic creator figure, blending reverence with a folksy, rustic familiarity.
• Rich Nature Poetry: Discover the profound in the everyday—a raindrop on a black branch, the shadow of a hawk, a buzzard’s hop—as the collection finds the divine in the details of rural life.
• Lyrical Free Verse: Without the confines of title or punctuation, the language flows with a raw, musical rhythm that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.