{"product_id":"second-nature-9781960145529","title":"Second Nature","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 23rd annual\u003cbr\u003eA. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eChaun Ballard's gripping debut collection weaves childhood experiences, \u003cbr\u003ehistorical events, and family stories into a living tapestry of memory that\u003cbr\u003ecelebrates the landscape of Black America, both rural and urban.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRiddled with the ghostly voices of family and\u003cbr\u003efriends, \u003ci\u003eSecond Nature\u003c\/i\u003e is fearless in\u003cbr\u003eits wrestling with America's fractured past and troubled present. In these\u003cbr\u003epoems, W.E.B. DuBois and Fredrick Douglass have a conversation, Michael Brown\u003cbr\u003emeditates on the nature of the cosmos, Johnnie Taylor's guitar sings in\u003cbr\u003esonnets, and the road Walt Whitman set out upon comes alive for a new\u003cbr\u003egeneration. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThrough innovative re-imaginings of the\u003cbr\u003esonnet, the pastoral, and the contrapuntal, Ballard engages with popular\u003cbr\u003eculture while examining the intricacies of all that is wedded together--form and\u003cbr\u003econtent, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, husband and wife, \u003cbr\u003eand a nation long dependent on created binaries that serve to maintain\u003cbr\u003estructures of oppression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInterspersed with quotations and inspired by\u003cbr\u003ethe rich legacy of poets who came before him--including poet Matthew Shenoda\u003cbr\u003ewho provides an insightful Foreword to the collection--\u003ci\u003eSecond Nature\u003c\/i\u003e is\u003cbr\u003ea testament to interconnectedness, a love letter to the deep roots that we come\u003cbr\u003efrom, and a reminder of the myriad ways in which one's identity is shaped by\u003cbr\u003ecommunity and country.---\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e BOA Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781960145529\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 126","brand":"Chaun Ballard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45078831890613,"sku":"9781960145529","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_73e45983-b936-429a-9fb1-e0816cbe9ad0.jpg?v=1738681793","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/second-nature-9781960145529","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}