The Last Visit

Chad Abushanab

• Publisher: Autumn House Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781938769818
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Poesie

In Chad Abushanab's debut poetry collection, The Last Visit, he carefully and compassionately explores a family broken by alcoholism and abuse. These poems trace the trajectory of an adolescent living with a violent father struggling with addiction, and recount both the abused child's perspective and his attempts to reckon with his past as he reaches adulthood, chronicling his own struggles with substance abuse and the reverberations of trauma in his life. Amid the violence and hurt, Abushanab's verse renders moments of compassion—even the least sympathetic figures are shown to be grappling with their flaws, and the narrator struggles to find compassion and move beyond the memories and habits that haunt him. These well-crafted poems explore how the past shapes us and how difficult it can be to leave behind.

Contents

1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Dedication
5. Contents
6. Negatives under Microscope
7. The Factory
8. Plastic Men
9. The Way
10. Dead Town
11. Ghazal
12. Toward Your Understanding
13. Missing
14. Confession: Silva’s Quarry
15. Boys
16. Found Dead in the Sequatchie Valley
17. The Dive
18. The Future of the Past
19. To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage
20. Cheating in a Small Town
21. Ghazal
22. Again
23. Layover after Visiting My Father
24. Poem Begun in a West Texas Corn Maze
25. Ghazal
26. A Haunted House
27. Restless
28. Custody Denied
29. Ghazal
30. Roadkill Ode
31. Visiting My Own Grave
32. Halloween
33. Love Poem with Five Lines Stolen from VHS Boxes
34. Drive-In
35. Ghazal
36. Drinking All Night in Tennessee
37. Small Funeral
38. Desert Elegy
39. A Voice from the Wreck
40. Ghazal
41. Rubáiyát for My Father
42. Necessary Rituals
43. The Landlocked Lighthouse
44. Love Poem with Desert and Stars
45. On the Dred Ranch Road Just Off 283
46. Hometown Knowledge
47. The Phone
48. The Last Visit
49. About the Donald Justice Poetry Prize
50. Acknowledgments
51. Thank You
52. About the Author

Negatives under Microscope

The Factory

Plastic Men

The Way

Dead Town

Ghazal

Toward Your Understanding

Missing

Confession: Silva’s Quarry

Boys

Found Dead in the Sequatchie Valley

The Dive

The Future of the Past

To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage

Cheating in a Small Town

Ghazal

Again

Layover after Visiting My Father

Poem Begun ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Negatives under Microscope
• The Factory
• Plastic Men
• The Way
• Dead Town
• Ghazal
• Toward Your Understanding
• Missing
• Confession: Silva’s Quarry
• Boys
• Found Dead in the Sequatchie Valley
• The Dive
• The Future of the Past
• To Speak of Woe That Is in Marriage
• Cheating in a Small Town
• Ghazal
• Again
• Layover after Visiting My Father
• Poem Begun in a West Texas Corn Maze
• Ghazal
• A Haunted House
• Restless
• Custody Denied
• Ghazal
• Roadkill Ode
• Visiting My Own Grave
• Halloween
• Love Poem with Five Lines Stolen from VHS Boxes
• Drive-In
• Ghazal
• Drinking All Night in Tennessee
• Small Funeral
• Desert Elegy
• A Voice from the Wreck
• Ghazal
• Rubáiyát for My Father
• Necessary Rituals
• The Landlocked Lighthouse
• Love Poem with Desert and Stars
• On the Dred Ranch Road Just Off 283
• Hometown Knowledge
• The Phone
• The Last Visit
• About the Donald Justice Poetry Prize
• Acknowledgments
• Thank You
• About the Author