Part springtime journal ("why are there thorns?"), Works and Days
meditates on the first wasps and chipmunks of the season, times'
passage, grackle hearts, and dandelions, while also collecting dozens of
poems considering the Catholic Church, Sir Thomas Browne, "Go Away"
welcome mats, books, floods ("never of dollar money"), the invention of
words, local politics, friendships, property development, dogs, and
Hesiod. Every page delights. As the poet herself notes: "My name is
Bernadette Mayer, sometimes / I am at the head of my class."