Artist Books

Night House
by Jody Alexander and Robert Perry

A collaborative project of 2012 — three cubes with nine individual stanzas selected by Jody Alexander from Robert Perry’s poem that was inspired by a handmade book of that name made by Jody.

Using the same materials as her original book of mull fabric and her snapshots taken at night, Jody constructed the cubes, and placed three stanzas and three photos on to each cube.

what will
I say
to the cabinet of high expectations
not to mention
the anxious chest
of drawers

while the dog
wonders
where I’m going
to sleep tonight

the knives
in their drawers
unwilling
to divulge their
secrets

Civil War Suite
Poems by Robert Perry

A suite of poems, written in 1999-2000 inspired by the Ken Burns PBS documentary on the Civil War, printed on sheets of translucent vellum encased in beeswax. Design and photography (taken in the Stanford University Arboretum) by Robert Perry. Photos printed on glass cover by photographer Steve Fisch.

PLACE OF PEACE
(SHILOH)

In this place of peace
our angel weeps
‍
a tiny creek
surrounded by a sea
of regiments
‍
the machines of war
wait for glory
‍
in rain and darkness
blinding light
‍
the vacant trees of
dawn find them
awares
‍
the republic
not the least
bit whole

THE DEAD AT ANTIETAM

Many fell at Antietam
their blood flowed
onto the land
not long before
the Emancipation
Proclamation
enacted
January 1863
‍
the cause of freedom
thought to ennoble
the carnage and
promote victory
‍
images of the battle
captured on glass
negatives made
into positives
infused with light
printed on paper and
exhibited to the public

the eyes of the world
looked upon them
matched the lists of names
and dispositions read
to the horrors revealed
in those photographs

the search for truth
and reason pursued
as history records
each furrow
torn across the page
like crops planted
in a shallow
unsettled earth
below an empty sky
the yield sown
with shouts and wails
consumed by fire

flames glow white
conjure images
of young men
twisted and spent
possessed by demons
it would seem
‍
this passion play
all about shadows and light
dreams of home
‍
against all hope
these boys will get there
one way or another

forever free indeed

Vanity Fair
A Novel Without A Hero
Altered Book with Poetry
by Robert Perry

A two-part biographical poem about Bob Dylan by Robert Perry with photos placed in an old edition of Vanity Fair by William Thackeray. The narrative of the poem and pictures follows the life and career of Dylan before and after his motorcycle accident in July 1966.

BEFORE THE FALL

He stepped onto the Gospel Ship
began to shout and sing

His songs of circus dreams
confusion boat and broken-hearted lovers
looking for a place to hide

He sang in ancient tongues
of blood and daggers
behind the curtain of the feast

His guitar of jangling wires
his harmonica
of dark confessions

Taking us far beyond the sky
returning us to earth
unharmed and dreaming
changed forever

While he flew too close to the sun
and fell into a sea of pavement
learning how to pray

DUTCH POET PRESS