Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically -- Paisley Rekdal, Paperback Automotive Gods are forbidden in the

Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren

who didn't grow up in Streetlight and is one of the few who knows that life--real life--exists outside of it

Meet unexpected underseas denizens and enter fascinating worlds within worlds in this entrancing celebration of imagination

her grandmother's age-old adage just might still be true: Black girls must die exhausted

I knew I'd break them

Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically -- Paisley Rekdal, Paperback Automotive Gods are forbidden in theWhat makes reading a poem unlike reading anything else? In Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens, acclaimed poet and teacher Paisley Rekdal demonstrates how to observe the building blocks of a poem including its diction, form, imagery, and rhythm and construct an interpretation of its meaning. Using guided close readings and nearly 40 creative and critical "experiments," this book shows how a poem takes shape through the intersection of all its lyric