Take It

“His voice finds shape within every fragment. It is a voice that is at once forlorn and passionate and preoccupied with beauty. . . . Joshua Beckman's poetry wears its heart on its sleeve."—*Slope* “Through repetition, rhythm, and a pervasively taut but accessible voice, Beckman sweeps us through his poems."—*Rain Taxi* One of poetry's genuinely necessary voices, Joshua Beckman offers a magnanimous vision of the poetic and social landscape, masterfully combining traditional and contemporary concerns and speech patterns in attending to a degraded, yet wondrous world. *Take It* is a gift of profound generosity. *I feel now like I am saying sorry for something, when* *what I am saying here is that the unknowing spirit is* *greater than the knowing spirit, that no matter what* *emboldened structure descends to stand before you* *in its plan and fullness, you do not know what it is.* **Joshua Beckman** was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He is the author of *Shake* (Wave Books, 2006), multiple collections of collaborative work, and numerous translations. He lives in both Brooklyn and Seattle.