{"product_id":"the-blessing-of-dark-water-9781938584336","title":"The Blessing of Dark Water","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"These poems are infused with contradiction: discovery and pain, blood and healing. Ultimately, \u003ci\u003eThe Blessing of Dark Water\u003c\/i\u003e is wrenching in its investigation of the artistic urge as tempered by the transformative power of suffering.\"--Amy Quan Barry\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLyons's debut, \u003ci\u003eThe Blessing of Dark Water\u003c\/i\u003e, highlights the exquisite pain and terrible happiness of mental illness by invoking the voice and perspective of American artist, Walter Inglis Anderson, who struggled with bipolar depression and psychotic episodes. These poems grapple with the suffering and secrecy of \"invisible\" illness, and the aching struggle for a simple human connection within the complexities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"How All Things are Managed\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey call it a \u003ci\u003efalling into death\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo dogs are shot into my vein.\u003cbr\u003e Three-second breath then\u003cbr\u003e the shake and jerk.\u003cbr\u003e One dog starves and the other\u003cbr\u003e feeds on its body.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRemember: \u003ci\u003ethou art dust\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I am lucky, there is only the darkness, \u003cbr\u003e an explosion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerhaps a fracture, \u003cbr\u003e a concussion, \u003cbr\u003e a dislocation.\u003cbr\u003e Flecks of blood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf the illness in your brain is brutal, \u003cbr\u003ebe brutal back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eElizabeth Lyons\u003c\/b\u003e holds an MFA from Purdue University and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Houston. Her poems have appeared in \u003ci\u003eTin House, Indiana Review, New South\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSalt Hill\u003c\/i\u003e. A recipient of fellowships and prizes from the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference, Vermont Studio Center, the I-Park Foundation, and the Academy of American Poets, she lives in Houston, TX.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Alice James Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/11\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781938584336\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 100\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.50w x 0.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/27\/2017\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Elizabeth Lyons","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38211697475765,"sku":"9781938584336","price":13.56,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_eef2425b-c709-45c4-baa7-9d7cd9872970.jpg?v=1610431617","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-blessing-of-dark-water-9781938584336","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}