Work samples

  • All the Rest is Silence / Newest Poems

    Just click on the image above and a book length collection of my newest poems will appear. And you needn't trifle with anything more in this long portfolio. After all, 56 poems are quite enough!


    But, you ask . . . why is there so much other material clogging up this portfolio? Well, that's an easy one: there was a ton of effort expended nearly a decade ago in the creation of this presentation. I've left these earlier pieces extant because they serve as a useful Internet archive of past writing. Feel free to wander through 'em, if the spirit moves you.

     

  • Famous - Cover Spread
    Famous - Cover Spread
    About FAMOUS (Winner of the 2010 Harriss Poetry Prize): "A 'tour de force' . . . these poems are outstanding and moving, crafted in order to reward us with new senses of perspective – as only exceptional poetry can do. Just twice before, in the many times I’ve judged poetry contests, has a poet’s work stood out as strongly as Sager’s. One of those winners is now a major American poet.” (Dick Allen, Connecticut Poet Laureate) -- THE FULL TEXT APPEARS IN THE PROJECTS SECTION.
  • THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS --  A timely arrival in this political season!
    THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS -- A timely arrival in this political season!
    Poetry: THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS -- Is the shadow gliding up against the sun that of Icarus, denuded of his feathers, or that of Danton, despoiled of his head? Is it the archetypal 20th century despot, a demagogue dictating to the masses, “beguiling the chambermaid, the tailor”. . . ? Or a radical 21st century bully, a con man strapping the casement of feathers to his shoulders, throwing his glove at the foot of the heavens “until we fire our torches foamed of dreams and fan out pitchforked into the innocent street”. . . ? -- THE FULL TEXT APPEARS IN THE PROJECTS SECTION.
  • 200 Takes - A fiction in divers parts
    200 Takes - A fiction in divers parts
    Fiction: 200 TAKES -- Sometimes I sit down at my keyboard and Hoby Blue Banks takes over. Or, as in this case, Bradford Kantor. This voice, that voice, you never can tell. Sometimes I delight in vague and duplicitous attributions. As do so many. Sitting in this library, I am steeped in, if nothing else, deceptive literary traditions. -- THE FULL TEXT APPEARS IN THE PROJECTS SECTION.

About Bruce

In the first person: I had the enormous good fortune to win the 2014 William Matthews Poetry Prize, selected by Billy Collins. Past awards include the Harriss Poetry Prizewith Dick Allen serving as judge and begetter of its splendid (though, I fear, unwarranted) introduction, and the Artscape Literary Arts Award in poetry, chosen by William Stafford, another generous soul. Collins, Allen, Stafford - poets laureate all; is this the basis for a new conspiracy theory? Maryland State… more

Welcome to my world!

Not a project, exactly, my library, not a project in the narrow sense of the Baker Portfolios, but -- thirty-some years in the building -- a project indeed! And a bespoke introduction to the "real" projects that follow. Spread over two rooms and threatening a third, a confederation of sophists and sages in full regalia, casuists and scholars, a throng of savants, midnight soloists and timeless scribblers -- whispering, gibbering, howling from their shelves across the hours, across the seasons. And then, the silence. All in all, the perfect cradle for a grateful writer foraging through his meager nest of ideas. And a lovely place to light up a cigar, to sip a little wine. Come join me . . . .
  • The infamous Man Cave whence cometh these Baker scribblings
    The infamous Man Cave whence cometh these Baker scribblings
    ABOUT BOOKS & E-BOOKS: A brief, digestible essay in eight consecutive captions >>>
  • Library Corner.jpg
    Library Corner.jpg
    Here's a notion for you. You cannot hold a road in your hand. Instead, you experience a road only as it comes at you, as you walk or drive it, and it presents you, in turn, only with what is directly in front of you, and nothing else; for what has fallen behind is gone, has disappeared, and what is ahead, what pre-exists, cannot be seen until you arrive. >>>
  • Some Furriners.jpg
    Some Furriners.jpg
    In this way, an e-book is something like a road, existing forever in "the present," the present only, on the present page and only the present -- and we don't need or make libraries for them: e-books make their own libraries in the clouds. In the Cloud. >>>
  • I Dream of Jeannie.jpg
    I Dream of Jeannie.jpg
    As for real books? Well, real books are quite different. Of course. They require space. So there, friend, is the heart of the notion: a real book makes past, present and future all equally accessible to you, and at all times, depending simply on where your fingers fall. The map is yours to command, the road yours to direct. >>>
  • From the Poetry Section.jpg
    From the Poetry Section.jpg
    It is you who rule the ideas in a tangible, a real, a physical book. In an e-book, though, they manage you. Have you noticed? In an e-book you live only in the rolling unmappable present, palpably adrift, with a limited concept of the space you superintend. >>>
  • Thomasiana.jpg
    Thomasiana.jpg
    It is, perhaps, for this reason -- our longing to anchor in the physical -- that libraries provide us with such warmth and pleasure. They provide us with a sense of place. >>>
  • Audenalia.jpg
    Audenalia.jpg
    The road provides us with a sense of movement. >>>
  • Library Classics.jpg
    Library Classics.jpg
    The library with a sense that we have arrived. <<<
  • Famous.jpg
    Famous.jpg

Famous (Older Poems, Not Grown Awful Quite Yet)

Winner of the 2010 Harriss Poetry Prize, judged by Connecticut Poet Laureate Dick Allen. His incredibly generous introduction is better than my poems.
  • Famous - Artwork (front & back cover spread)
    Famous - Artwork (front & back cover spread)
    This is just the cover, of course. The generous introduction follows (4 brief pages); it was written by Poet Laureate Dick Allen. The icon to the far right contains the entirety of the text.
  • Famous - Introduction - page 1 of 4
    Famous - Introduction - page 1 of 4
  • Famous - Introduction - page 2 of 4
    Famous - Introduction - page 2 of 4
  • Famous - Introduction - page 3 of 4
    Famous - Introduction - page 3 of 4
  • Famous - Introduction - page 4 of 4
    Famous - Introduction - page 4 of 4
  • Famous - Entire Book
    This is the proof from which the book was published. Sometimes we wince at our older poems, but I suspect that a couple of these pieces are holding up tolerably well. Or "tollible well," as my great granddaddy would have said. If he had come from someplace a little closer than Budapest.

Hoby Blue Banks (Semi-Hilarious Short Stories)

HOBY BLUE BANKS IN EXACTLY 1,000 WORDS, MORE OR LESS -- because sometimes you just can't stand being yourself. A scurrilous volume of short stories, "as told to Bruce Sager, typist" . . . [by no less than Hoby himself!] . . . "who otherwise don't know shit, and who, on top of his other deficits & defects, of which there is no small number, wanted to call this thing 'Speak Easy,' I guess because of the lizard on the cover, which, to an artsy fartsy mind, might be a statement or some such about trusting what speech come tumbling out of a man's mouth when he gets to talking." Not for the faint of heart. Forthcoming in 2017  from Hyperborea Publishing.
  • Hoby Cover Spread -- CLICK ON THIS COVER to read some FUNKY DAMNED BLURBS!
    Hoby Cover Spread -- CLICK ON THIS COVER to read some FUNKY DAMNED BLURBS!
    Cover illustration: Detail from "Alone at the End of the World," Jen Sager, oil painting
  • HOBY BLUE BANKS - Interior of the Book.pdf
    This document is the whole of Hoby, minus the cover, if you're inclined to sit and read a bit. Best with a dark beer and a vintage cigar. BETTER WHEN VIEWED IN 2-PAGE SPREADS, if you can figure out how to do it. If not, just pretend. Thing is, I damn well double dare you not to laugh at something or other in here. Even if it's just my stupidity. If you're easily offended, you can throw a brick at your computer monitor. This book calls it the way it is, so don't say I didn't warn ya. Truth! Y'all come back now, hear?
  • Hoby 1.png
    Hoby 1.png
  • Hoby 2.png
    Hoby 2.png
  • Hoby 3.png
    Hoby 3.png
  • Hoby 4.png
    Hoby 4.png

How to Write a Poem (Are You A Writer? Bet You'll Laugh.)

A practical instruction. Well, no. Not  really.
But a “must read” for any poet.
Depending on your definition of “must.”
 

     And look how hard you’ve been
     working. Does the laborer not pause
     under the midday sun for a sip of water?
     The soldier beguile the hours of bivouac
     rolling coffin nails? Who are you
     to deny yourself the common comforts
     the body demands? And besides,
     maybe you have your poem already.
 
Do you recognize yourself here?
 
     Here’s where the might and majesty
     of the language will step in, married
     in the near night under your little
     gooseneck writer’s lamp. Or maybe
     not. Maybe the might and majesty
     of the language are currently in
     the employ of some other poet,
     likewise desperate to turn a bright sheet
     of foolscap into something deathless
     and deep, and despair begins to set in.
 
Turn your back to it, sugar booger.
  • How to Write a Poem - Cover Spread
    How to Write a Poem - Cover Spread
    Improper Lady and Fly Do Lunch: Computer illustration by Jen Sager [CLICK THE PIC to view the covers full size. Worth it!]
  • How to Write a Poem - Interior Part 1.pdf
    Thank you for making it here. The rest is a breeze. The Baker system software has forced this book to be broken into three PDF's. This is PART ONE. The title poem. Hope you get a kick out of it.
  • How to Write a Poem - Interior Part 2.pdf

    The Baker system software has forced this book to be broken into three PDF's. You are a saint for having gotten this far. THIS IS PART TWO. It has its small charms.

  • How to Write a Poem - Interior Part 3.pdf
    The Baker system software has forced this book to be broken into three PDF's. You are very patient! Hope you've enjoyed it thus far. THIS IS PART THREE. The big payoff!
  • How to Write a Poem - Table of Contents
    How to Write a Poem - Table of Contents
  • How to Write a Poem - Intro Spread
    How to Write a Poem - Intro Spread
  • How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 1
    How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 1
  • How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 2
    How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 2
    "The spaces between the keys" -- As a courtesy to your imagination, it might help to look at your keyboard layout as you read this.
  • How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 3
    How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 3
    "Sometimes my mistress shows up at poetry readings" -- Never had more fun reading a poem to a large group (one where a lot of the people know each other) than I had with this one.
  • How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 4
    How to Write a Poem - Random Spread 4
    "The Greatest Poem Ever Written" -- What would such a poem look like? Who would have written it? How would it be received today? Would it paint its face?

The Indulgence of Icarus (An Atypical Lyric)

It started out as a lyrical -- yes, lyrical! -- poem about the fascist mind. (Have I lost you yet? I don't think I'd get past that first sentence, personally.) Anyway, as this recent presidential race grew into a monstrous debacle, the poem took on a life of its own. See if you recognize any of the players. An atypical piece for me . . . which means it might sell a few copies. (Publication Date: 12/21/2016)
  • Screen Shot 2016-12-23 at 3.53.45 PM
    Screen Shot 2016-12-23 at 3.53.45 PM
    A couple of days after its release, Icarus surpasses Paradise Lost as Amazon's #1 BOOK of epic poetry? Really? John Milton joins with me in chortling over Amazon's amazingly dense and frequently hilarious analytics.
  • THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS --  A timely arrival in this political season!
    THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS -- A timely arrival in this political season!
    Is the shadow gliding up against the sun that of Icarus, denuded of his feathers, or that of Danton, despoiled of his head? Is it the archetypal 20th century despot, a demagogue dictating to the masses, “beguiling the chambermaid, the tailor”. . . ? Or a radical 21st century bully, a con man strapping the casement of feathers to his shoulders, throwing his glove at the foot of the heavens “until we fire our torches foamed of dreams and fan out pitchforked into the innocent street”. . . ?
  • THE INDULGENCE OF ICARUS -- An uncommon hatchery for a poem, much less a lyric book-length meditation by turns soaring and repining – a tour through the fascist mind, through the pride and insecurity that grind at its foundations.
    This is the full text of the official final publisher's proof in glorious PDF spreads. 100% ABSOLUTELY FREE pixels, the entire book, all yours for the clicking. Physical book available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Or reach out to the publisher at www.echopointbooks.com/our-titles. Or just call me, I'll probably give you one out of sheer gratitude. They sent me, like, twenty copies.
  • Icarus Sample 1 - (a random spread of 2 pages)
    Icarus Sample 1 - (a random spread of 2 pages)
  • Icarus Sample 2 - (a random spread of 2 pages)
    Icarus Sample 2 - (a random spread of 2 pages)
  • Icarus Sample 3 - (a random spread of 2 pages)
    Icarus Sample 3 - (a random spread of 2 pages)

The Song Thief (Most Recent Poems)

This is the chair that has all the amperes running to it. If you are going to read just one thing among these varied projects, you might read this. It's a good place to start, because it's representative of the work I'd stand by if I were forced to take a stand. Where I'm trying to create language that lasts beyond the instance of its utterance. Though "Hoby Blue Banks" might be funnier, and "200 Takes" fancier, I'd be honestly honored if you'd spend a few minutes with this manuscript. Which is being readied for publication in 2017 by some numbingly nice folks up in Canada. Yes, Canada, that illusory post-election Shangri-La. That El Dorado. That one. (Now, to be candid, a goodly number of these pieces appear as a download in one of the four Work Samples windows ("The Song Thief" window, of course) at the top of this site; but that's just a bit of haphazard cherry picking, a genial but generally random grouping; if you read through this, you'll find many more poems of their ilk, but in this version they're all settled nice and comfy against one another in a faintly logical framework that might, on a good day, be called "thematic." Oh, that word.)
  • The Song Thief - Part 1
    This is the first of three parts of "The Song Thief."
  • The Song Thief - Part 2
    This is the second of three parts of "The Song Thief."
  • The Song Thief - Part 3
    This is the final of three parts of "The Song Thief."

Last Prayer at Steel Pier (A Chapbook In The Making)

Last prayer at Steel Pier
 
There is a reason your eye stopped here.
You know what it was famous for.
 
Always there was someone praying.
And somewhere, far back in the crowd,
a different prayer, a secret prayer.
 
There is a reason your eye stopped here.
What is it that you’re praying for?  
  • Last Prayer at Steel Pier - Do you recall what they used to do at Steel Pier in the name of entertainment? CLICK to see full size photo.
    Last Prayer at Steel Pier - Do you recall what they used to do at Steel Pier in the name of entertainment? CLICK to see full size photo.
  • Sample Spread (from end of chapbook)
    Sample Spread (from end of chapbook)

I Was Big For My Age (An Early Short Story)

One of the first short stories I ever wrote. I'm still vaguely fond of it. Perhaps because of its poetic opening image.

  • I Was Big For My Age
    "The first two women I ever slept with were an Amazon and a dwarf. My life, like the sea, has always been defined by its extremities."

200 Takes (Excerpts From A Long, Orotund, Ambiguous Novel)

The novel is built to carry on for two hundred chapters ("200 Takes") within the larger mystery of the framing device -- which is itself framed -- but that's a formidable, ambitious assignment. Maybe John Barth could prosecute such a tome, but he's been writing shorter stuff of late; perhaps David Foster Wallace could bring it off, but he's dead, and I fear that I might be, too, if I ever tried to finish writing the damned thing. Which, with a little wine buzz, I am moved to contemplate from time to time. But, no. So perhaps wherever it lies is as far as it's going to get, like this nameless desert wanderer overcome by heat and thirst. This nobody. This nothing.

  • 200 Takes - A fiction in divers parts
    200 Takes - A fiction in divers parts
    200 TAKES -- Unfinished novel, but quite a few of the chapters stand, as written, on their own two gnarly feet, not so much asocial as simply disinterested in their neighboring chapters. These whole-within-themselves slabs of writing beef I have lavishly PDF'd, all for your delectation. So if you've pushed your way through this site, this presentation of comestibles, here's a penultimate dish for you. Here be hopes you find it tasty.
  • 200 Takes - Foreword - 1st page
    200 Takes - Foreword - 1st page
    Open the whole document to read on . . . .
  • Two Hundred Takes - Baker Portfolio Excerpts
    A multitude of middle (perhaps middling) chapters mercifully excised so that you can move through this a quantum more swiftly. Deletions of no import, though: what appears here stands on its own. Those few poems curtsying within some of these pages -- especially the Bukowsiki forgery -- have long since been edited. Hopefully improved. But I've decided to let this highly episodic novel stand as written a decade ago. Maybe one day I'll breathe some fresh life into it. As Mark Twain once said, I dunno. Mebbe.

An Absorbing Literary Forgery (Housed In A Labyrinth)

Borges indulged throughout his life and work in the creation of literary frauds. As a courtesy to the dead master, this important document is presented here for the first (and likely only) time.
  • On Haslam’s A General History of Labyrinths.pdf