It's Not Magic

Snapshots of youth, displayed with verve and sparkling clarity, in a new collection of poems that “dazzles with its linguistic sleight of hand” (Richard Blanco).

From jaunts through New York subways, to a Cincinnati Waffle House, to a chance encounter with one’s future life partner, Sands writes in turns autobiographically and imaginatively, drawing on voices from his private world and the public sphere to create an urgent portrait of youth that is almost rebellious in its sheer, persistent joy. Nostalgic and vivid, this collection of poems is written reverie. Selected by Richard Blanco, Jon Sands is the winner of the 2018 National Poetry Series.

Jon Sands is the author of The New Clean and the cohost of The Poetry Gods podcast. His work has been featured in the New York Times and anthologized in The Best American Poetry. He’s received residencies and fellowships from the Blue Mountain Center, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and the Jerome Foundation. He lives in Brooklyn, NY

Foreword by Richard Blanco

i.
Love Poem
Diaphragm
Moons over My Hammy
Poof
Origin Story: 1956
Origin Story: 1999
Here’s the Real New
Palindrome
Epithalamion

ii.
If I Am All That I Have
Decoded
I Know That Silence Will Greet Me . . .
Internet as a Concept Is Not Inspiring
Last Night
The Woods
To My Ohio, a Letter Home
How I Remember It
You Know How You Try to Say a Thing
Check Out
Who Here Is Not a Liar?
Break

iii.
Before the Bloom
Living Room Monologue the Night of Winter Formal
Love Spell
When I See Andre 3000 Buying Bananas at Trader Joe’s
I Have a Beer with a Professor Who Drinks with His Students
Ode to the Rat
Dandelion
Ode to My Mother’s Hip

iv.
The Trick When Synching Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of Oz
The Basement

v.
I Should Be Writing the Story
And It Will Be a Beautiful Song
Hey Mom
New Year’s
Above Ground
The Shoreline
The Day We Chose Instead to Grow

Acknowledgments
Notes
Thank You