You can cast your vote for the 2013 Readers’ Choice Award online at oregonlive.com/books. The winner will be announced at the Oregon Book Awards ceremony.
2013 Oregon Book Award Finalist
Fragile Acts by Allan Peterson
Category
Poetry
Publisher
Fragile Acts speaks to the nature of memory, the power of the natural world in shaping us, and the inexhaustible reach of the imagination that integrates wisdom and the dream. From a writer who is both a poet and visual artist, the book is rich in evocative and uniquely descriptive images.
A poem from Fragile Acts
The laughing gull that flew behind the fencepost
and never came out was the beginning
and then a hand smaller than my hand covered Wisconsin
with a gesture for explanation
In the afternoon there are pauses between the words
through which commas can grow like daisy fleabane
A fish with an osprey in its back emerges from the Sound
and nothing can be learned by more analysis
The book of her hair opens to its binding and I leaf through
the glorious pages of approval and that’s not all
We could not have turned fast enough to catch
light and leftovers from so much of what happened:
the swift figures behind you like a planet’s dark
companion ships entering and leaving the hall closet
the real and imagined between which is no difference
About the Author 
Allan Peterson’s poetry has been published in print and online for many years, including four books and five chapbooks. He has received recognitions from the NEA, the state of Florida, the 2005 Juniper Prize, the 2009 Conference on World Affairs, the 2010 Cuisle Poetry Festival in Ireland, and a number of national literary competitions.
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