{"product_id":"reading-water-poems-9781962206211","title":"Reading Water: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003eFramed by the death of the poet's mother, \u003ci\u003eReading Water\u003c\/i\u003e begins by considering how love is born then bound by the bonds of family and friends. These poems undertake a restless search for a self under constant evolution. Grappling with grief, familial and romantic love, and art - using persona and ekphrasis, along with the traditional lyric - this debut collection addresses Dean Young's crucial question: \"Who doesn't sense an unbridgeable alienation between ourselves and the world...That our poems speak to no one, not even fully to ourselves?\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn response to this question, over and over again, \u003ci\u003eReading Water\u003c\/i\u003e fords the distance that exists between sons, brothers, parents, friends, and lovers--giving voice to the what's unsayable in these relationships. In three sections, the book moves backwards through time, forming an arc that begins with loss, moving on to desire and a beloved, before concluding with propulsive pieces about art and ekphrasis. In these sections, the poet moves from a place of support and community to one of solitude.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection considers how we are made, before thinking about what it takes to become a writer or artist, and if solitude is a prerequisite for creation. Images of water's ephemerality, what happens above and below its surface, thread \u003ci\u003eReading Water\u003c\/i\u003e together. This collection finds kinship in the work of poets like Brenda Shaughnessy, Nick Flynn, Elizabeth Bishop, Stanley Kunitz, Gail Mazur, and Alan Shapiro.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Lightscatter Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781962206211\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 108\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.93h x 6.61w x 0.06d","brand":"Derek Jg Williams","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51230732419253,"sku":"9781962206211","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_f4240064-b509-451f-8c45-9d957b25e33c.jpg?v=1750169961","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/reading-water-poems-9781962206211","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}