| Summary: | Thesis (M.F.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2013 Sylph is a collection of poems that explores our relationship with mythology. It is interested in the similarity between identity and mythology, and the constant reinvention that both experience. It is interested in finding where myths intersects with individuals, societies, places, and other myths. The book attempts to create a panorama of landscapes both urban and rural, of figures ranging from alchemical spirits, animals from folklore, and gods of Greek, Egyptian, and many other descents. The poems frequently employ dramatic monologue in order to offer a voice to mythical figures. They focus primarily on content and imagery, favoring metaphor and simile. Sylph does not attempt to represent the entire body of mythology, but rather different figures that have intersected in a multicultural setting. Sylph regards both the reader and the mythical figures not as artifacts, but as beings that are in a process of continual growth and experience. I. Written in sand -- LIttle gods -- Terra -- Sleepwalking in the other city -- Pegasus in flight -- Hulse-Taylor -- Memory of fire -- Bastet in the bathhouse -- Clotho's apprentice -- One afternoon with a death god -- They came in boats -- II. Becoming the birds I. Becoming -- II. Osprey -- III. Turtle dove -- IV. Shrike -- V. Peacock -- VI. Loon -- VII. Swan -- VIII. Great horned owl -- IX. Falcon -- X. Cardinal -- XI. Bowerbird -- XII. Sparrow -- XIII. Peahen -- XIV. Barn owl -- XV. Raven -- III. The Phoenix -- The moon in glass -- Ravenkind -- Cartography -- Five stories about a fox -- The labyrinth -- In the jungle -- Unicorn -- St. George's St. -- Undine lingers -- Apology to Anansi -- Crematorium -- His last words -- IV. Sylph -- Stories never told -- The fox woman -- The guarded lament -- Embalming -- Salamander -- Shadow -- Batspeak -- Procession at twilight -- Hulse-Taylor: inspiral -- Fingerprints.
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