Stallings finds meaning in objects and circumstances that we are all familiar with and that we typically ignore. As stated in the blurb on the back -- "Her poems come out of life's dailiness." Her perspective reveals the extraordinary in the ordinary and triggers explosions of recollection and association. Her well-imaged insights (not her stylistic perfection) will bring me back repeatedly to these poems.

I want more. Please give me more.

A few of the many lines that delighted me:

"We fall mute, as when two lovers come
To the brink of the apology, and half,
Each sanding on the wrong side of the fault." p. 31

"Orpheus struck dumb with hindsight." p. 46

about bats
"But travel by a sort of song that rings
True not in utterance, but harkenings,
Who find their way by calling into darkness
to hear their voice bounce off the shape of things." p. 55

"Here comes a freight train nosing west,
Pulling the dawn behind her." p. 57

"Nothing is more permanent than the temporary." p. 113

From Lost and Found, the longest of the poems pp. 120- 153
"The hours drained as women rearrange
The furniture in search of small, lost change."
"Don't ask
The mind to rest, though someday it must cease;
In life, only the flesh has any peace."
"Beneath a black sky thrilled with stars ..."
"Those are the frayed, lost threads
Of conversations, arguments, the yarn
Of thought and logic's clews we'd thought we'd spun
Only to find they'd somehow come undone."

A description of sea urchins --
mermaid doubloons,
these rose-, mauve-, pistachio-
tinted macaroons." p. 165

Silence is
"the room
In which melody moves, the medium
Through which thought travels ...
Before the word itself, it was the womb.
It has a measure. Music calls it rest." p. 170

"And yet I rise
Hearing the typing of the rain." p. 178

"But it isn't the unfathomable fall
That makes me giddy, makes my stomach lurch,
It's that the ledge itself invents the leap." p. 181

"Twisted the bulb out to turn on the dark." p. 1863 s RH Walters807 13

I loved these sharp smart poems.2 s Zeynep Olgun28 1 follower

I don't usually read poetry, and when I do it is either because I enjoy the aesthetic of the form, or because I relate to it. Somehow Stallings' selected poems did both. Maybe it was studying Greek, or being raised in the Aegean. I found myself feeling a certain warmth as if the sun was out. I felt I could hear the cicadas and smell the salt of the sea drying on my skin. And I was reading this book on a particularly gloomy Cambridge morning.

I made note of the poems that I would to read again. Since I borrowed this book from the library it will have to go back.

A Postcard from Greece, Cardinal Numbers, Homecoming, Consolation for Tamar, The Mistake, Study in White, Aftershocks, Thyme, Asphodel, Another Lullaby for Insomniacs, Four Fibs, After a Greek Proverb, Denouement, Dying the Easter Eggs, , the Sestina, Sea Urchins, Shattered, Learning to Read Greek. 1 Momo 437 1 follower

2 out of 5 stars.
This poetry collection was not for me but if you fantasy and mythology-based poetry this would be amazing for you. I went out of my set of taste by picking this up and regretted it because I really just didn't enjoy the story aspect of this. The writing was a bit confusing for me at times as well, but there were a few poems I really did enjoy, they just didn't shine over the rest of the collection though.

Disclaimer: I received a digital arc copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.giveaway-arc-1 John363 16

One of the best poets writing today. Stallings is eloquent and innovative, but also works in traditional forms and brings deep craft to each poem. This is a great sampling of her work and those who enjoy poetry that rewards close reading will enjoy the poems.1 Wayne FenlonAuthor 4 books76

This is a great collection, and I enjoyed it for the most part, but I think the placement of certain poems felt a bit off. Then again, different moods, different days. I'd still recommend this as one to dip into. Absolutely.1 M276 12

There were some really gorgeous lines, such as "Though at times I feel the trees, rocking in place / grief, clenching the dirt." Unfortunately, I'm not wholly one for whom form works; the rhyme decenters me from other beauties in the language. I appreciated the craft, however, quite deeply. AE Stallings is remarkable, and if you have a love for allusions in poetry or well structured pieces, this would be a lovely book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who gave me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.1 Aubree Chavez430 29

This collection was phenomenal. It had an insane amount of references that I felt aided rather than hurt. 100% recommend for poetry lovers or Greek lovers! 1 Bill155

This Afterlife is a collection of poems (and a few translations) from A. E. Stallings ranging from 1999 to within the past few years. That’s a good few decades worth of work, but Stallings I admit is new to me (not that this is saying much, my poetry reading is sporadic at best). But I’ll be checking out other books by this author after reading these selected poems.

Many, most at a rough guess and especially so of the early works, of the poems have a connection to classical myths, as even a cursory glance simply at the titles will tell you, a few of which include: “Hades Welcomes His Bride”, “Persephone Writes a Letter to Her Mother”, “Medea, Homesick, and “Persephone to Psyche”.

One certainly doesn’t need a working knowledge of Greek/Roman myth to appreciate the poems’ language, structured meter and rhyme, or most of their sharper points, though it’s also true some such knowledge will make for a richer experience. It’s also true that most of these myth-based poems aren’t located solely in ancient times or experience, but instead are a melding of the ancient and the modern, sometimes literally so — moving back and forth between the two in setting or language or both — and sometimes more in thought or theme.

In “First Love: A Quiz” for instance, one of the more playfully experimental poems, written int eh form of a multiple-choice test, we get the typical “bad boy” appeal: “He came up to me/in his souped-up Camaro”. But these “answers” of the test are juxtaposed with other answers such as, “He came to me/from the ground, in a lead chariot drawn by a/team of stallion . . . /breathing sulfur”

One of my personal favorite is the aforementioned Persephone Writes a Letter to Her Mother”, written of course from Hades which is “not so far underground”, so near in fact the surface that Persephone “can just make out the crunch of footsteps/The pop of acorns falling, or the chime/Of a shovel squaring a fresh grave or turning/Up the tulip bulbs for separation.” Note the melding of life and death, as well as the careful attention to sound — the “O” of “pop, “of” “shovel”; the “u”, the “t” and more.

Stallings also presents the reader with an unexpected Hades (the god, not the place), something she does multiple times in these poems, as in “Arachne Gives Thanks to Athena”, where the old tale of Arachne being cursed by the goddess is, in Arachne’s own voice, “no punishment. They are mistaken/… My prayers were answered.” I won’t spoil the poem’s close, save to say it is as beautiful as it is unexpected.

The poems not centered on classical myths often focus on the domestic realm: parenting, a busted washing machine, a cast iron skillet needing to be reseasoned. I confess I found these less satisfying generally: not as sharply edged, a bit too neatly rounded off especially at the closes, but that’s not true for all of them, and the word/sound play remains consistently high throughout.

I’m typically satisfied when half the poems or short stories in a collection speak to me ins some fashion and am thrilled at three-quarters. This Afterlife easily cleared that bar. I’d also say it’s an excellent book for non-poetry readers in that the poems, despite their possibly intimidating classical foundation, are absolutely accessible and, in their rhyme and structure, perhaps a more familiar form. An excellent choice for people looking to dip perhaps hesitantly into poetry or for a gift for your reader friend who “doesn’t do poetry.” Highly recommended.1 Amelia591 20

"Every time I wield a knife, I cry.
He has become the onion of my eye."

A.E. Stallings is the poet of our time. Anne Carson, she brings forth classic texts, Greek tales and characters in ways that are lyrical, haunting, beautiful. She plays with words, plays with stories. Each poem is something entirely new and takes my breath away just about every time.

The first half of this collection was the strongest half to me, though this may be because the latter half relies more upon her understanding of child-/motherhood. Still, this collection is well-crafted and clearly written by a highly skilled poet.poetry1 TimetoFangirl669 17

Come now, child, adjust your eyes, for sight/ Is here a lesser sense.

This Afterlife was my first time reading A.E. Stallings work, as I'm not the most avid poetry consumer. I took a few poetry classes for my Bachelor's (it was required) but my ability to connect with poetic works is really hit or miss. Luckily, this collection was largely a winner for me, though it certainly wasn't perfect.

Since This Afterlife is a collection of collections, pulled from different eras of the writer's life, the themes were varied but Greek culture and mythology provided a narrative thread throughout. Not every poem dealt with these topics, but enough did that it was recognizable.

There were some poems I didn't really connect with but that's going to be true of any collection. I did how she varied the format of rhyme schemes, meters, traditional vs. open forms, etc.

Particular Favorites:
- Hades Welcomes His Bride
- How the Demons Were Assimilated & Became Productive Citizens

Odd Lines:
One of the recurring issues that keep me from being an avid poetry fan is the odd words and phrases poets will weave in occasionally. Here are a few of those phrases. Please note, this section is meant to be light-hearted, I'm not mocking the writer or providing critical commentary; possibly these lines are brilliant and I'm just dumb.
the sky, as bright as pain,...what?
Of form and entropy,...does entropy have form?poetry quotes-pulled reviewed Peter J.212 2

Favorite Poems:

"A Lament for the Dead Pets of Our Childhood"
"Tour of the Labyrinth"
"The Mistake"
"The Machines Mourn the Passing of People"
"Ubi Sunt Lament for the Eccentric Museums of My Childhood"
"Asphodel"
"An Ancient Dog Grave, Unearthed During Construction of the Athens Metro"
"Explaining an Affinity for Bats"
"Prelude"
"Jigsaw Puzzle"
"Burned"
"Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Ascribed to Martin Luther"
"Accident Waiting to Happen"
"The Mother's Loathing of Balloons"
"Another Bedtime Story"
"Ajar"
"Glitter"
"The Last Carousel"
"Pencil"
"Placebo"
"Scissors"
"Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda"
"Silence"
"The Magi"
"After Reading the Biography Savage Beauty" Ariel294 11

Received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this collection of poems would make a fantastic starter for those who aren't too sure where to begin. If they wanna dive a little deeper and start to really unravel the feelings behind a person.

They were refreshing yet overplayed and I think that held some of the beauty to me. It's easy to expect what's coming but sometimes that's what you need. All in all, I wouldn't read it again but I didn't regret it and the time I spent on it. arc Joanna1,164 21

The poet does some deft and surprising things with enjambement, and especially with rhyme. She creates resonant metaphors and deals with the mythological content in a fresh and exciting way. I did feel some discomfort with the word choice in some of her poems. In her poem ", the Sestina," she articulates her rationale for avoiding obscure or pretentious vocabulary, and I respect that; and yet, sometimes the language comes across as trite or flat, and there are times when the auditory quality 0f the poem does not do justice to the beauty of the imagery. Still, an exciting discovery.academia bookfort-books books-with-birds ...more Robin778

I read a poem of A. E. Stallings somewhere--in The Daily Slowdown from American Public Media or the weekly book newsletter from Washington Post's Ron Charles--and thought I would try this, her latest collection of selections from her various books. Her use of meter and rhyme drew me in, and I particularly d the poems about her children, one about the Magi, and one about dyeing Easter eggs. For those who Greek mythology there are many poems on that subject as well. non-fiction Andy Oram539 18

This collection of poems, mostly published previously, just delighted me. Stallings has a knack for mixing rhyme and pace—notably the insertion of abrupt, short lines—to make effects that are sometimes wry and sometimes lamenting. Her topics are sometimes mundane, even to the point of doing a jigsaw puzzle, but sometimes very thoughtful expressions of the difficulties of family life. Also a lot of classical references.literature1 Dodi693 5

I've made an effort to read more poetry in the last couple of years with mixed results. Over the last month or so, I read a couple of poems a day from This Afterlife, astounded at their brilliance. A.E. Stallings plays with words and rhymes and metaphors and similes cleverly. She makes the mundane special with her poems about everyday objects and activities.

This collection showcases work from more than twenty years. Clearly over that time Stallings has mastered the form. Angry Fitz34

Author: A.E. Stallings
Date released: 2022
Category: Poetry Collection

Synopsis: Selected Poems brings together poetry from A. E. Stallings's four acclaimed collections, Archaic Smile, Hapax, Olives, and , as well as a lagniappe of outlier poems. Over time, themes and characters reappear, speaking to one another across years and experience, creating a complex music of harmony, dissonance, and counterpoint. The Underworld and the Afterlife, ancient history and the archaeology of the here and now, all slant rhyme with one another. Many of these poems unfold in the mytho-domestic sphere, through the eyes of Penelope or Pandora, the poet or Alice in Wonderland. Fulfilling the promise of the energy and sprezzatura of Stallings's earliest collection, her later technical accomplishment rises to meet the richness of lived experience: of marriage and motherhood, of a life lived in another language and country, of aging and mortality. Her chosen home of Greece adds layers of urgency to her fascination with Greek mythology; living in an epicenter of contemporary crises means that current events and ancient history are always rubbing shoulders in her poems.

Expert at traditional received forms, Stallings is also a poet of restless experiment, in cat's-cradle rhyme schemes, nonce stanzas, supple free verse, thematic variation, and metaphysical conceits. The pleasure of these poems, fierce and witty, melancholy and wise, lies in a timeless precision that will outlast the fickleness of fashion.

The UnReel Take:

Story: N/A
Writing: 7.0
Characters: N/A
Setting: 8.0

UnReel AR: 7.5

Bottom Line: This Afterlife was my first time reading A.E. Stallings work, as I'm not the most avid poetry consumer. I took a few poetry classes for my Bachelor's (it was required) but my ability to connect with poetic works is really hit or miss. Luckily, this collection was largely a winner for me, though it certainly wasn't perfect.

Since This Afterlife is a collection of collections, pulled from different eras of the writer's life, the themes were varied but Greek culture and mythology provided a narrative thread throughout. Not every poem dealt with these topics, but enough did that it was recognizable.

There were some poems I didn't really connect with but that's going to be true of any collection. I d how she varied the format of rhyme schemes, meters, traditional vs. open forms, etc.

Particular Favorites:

·Hades Welcomes His Bride

·How the Demons Were Assimilated & Became Productive Citizens

Odd Lines:

One of the recurring issues that keep me from being an avid poetry fan is the odd words and phrases poets will weave in occasionally. Here are a few of those phrases. (Please note, this section is meant to be light-hearted, I'm not mocking the writer or providing critical commentary; possibly these lines are brilliant and I'm just dumb.)

·“the sky, as bright as pain,”… what?

·“Of form and entropy,”… does entropy have form?

Ideal Reading Location: All over the freaking place. Poetry collections, in my humble opinion, aren’t meant to be read in one sitting. Pick it up once a day and read through a poem or two wherever you’re at. See how the words hit you differently in different contexts.

Drink Pairing: See above answer but, given the Greek themes of this collection, I’m going to have to say Ouzo. Yamas!

See more at the UnReel Take! Artie LeBlanc554 6

I do not read much poetry, but I have been captivated by these poems. Stallings sees so much in the minutiae of our lives, and uses very subtle classical allusions to add depth to her work.

Highly recommended.nonfiction poetry Julie Gardner107 4

I loved some of the poems in this book - there are several that I'll go back to and recommend to others. But in some, the rhymes just felt too intrusive - so I've ended up with very mixed feelings about AE Stallings. Kidlitter964 12

Stallings is so accessible, so lyrical, so chewy in her poetry. If I was more qualified to critique her formally, I would, but I know when I'm reading good stuff and this is it. If you avoid poesy as too high-faultin', this is a work that could convince you otherwise. Try it and see! Sandra1,256 6 Read

I loved the previous books so not a surprise I'd enjoy the compilation. I admit I'm sad there's so little new material.poetry Angelica Peña57 2

When reading the poems, I was a little confused about some of the writing and found my self questioning the poems. However, it was an exciting settling and writing style. Caroline H288 4

Fun, fantasy, mythology poems. Wasn’t AMAZED but was still fun to read. Natalie DeYoung215 6

Some of these I really loved, especially the earlier ones and the ones based on Greek mythology. Others did not capture my attention. Anni Elvirah9

Absolutely incrediblefavoritter BooksRgood450 2

Wow! Very nice...poemetry TerranceAuthor 1 book8

Absolutely brilliant. My current favorite poet. Mary94

Poetry David26

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