{"product_id":"lets-become-a-ghost-story","title":"Let's Become a Ghost Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRick Bursky’s latest poetry collection reaches into the peculiarities of human relationships with emotional accuracy, charm, and a touch of surrealism. \u003c\/strong\u003eIn poems that channel memories of brief encounters and long-lost loves through imagination and half-recalled dreams, \u003cem\u003eLet’s Become a Ghost Story\u003c\/em\u003e turns nostalgia inside-out to reveal the innate humor of our most intimate connections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003ePraise for Rick Bursky\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Rick Bursky’s poems are full of good news. It is that poetry still exists.” \u003cb\u003e—Dean Young, author of \u003ci\u003eSolar Perplexus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Rick Bursky’s \u003ci\u003eLet’s Become a Ghost Story\u003c\/i\u003e is a surrealist’s wet dream, full of crashing chandeliers, stopped clocks, and bodies turned to smoke and ash. Bursky uses these moments of magic to navigate the riskiest corners of the human heart: love, death, grief, and losses that repeat themselves like a spell. As Bursky says, ‘Everything I know about magic \/ I learned staring at a firing squad.’ In these poems we see that sometimes sorcery is what it takes to face our demons, especially on the unrelenting page.” \u003cb\u003e—Keetje Kuipers, author of \u003ci\u003eAll Its Charms\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“In Rick Bursky’s \u003ci\u003eLet’s Become a Ghost Story\u003c\/i\u003e, the speaker and his lover constantly transform and trade positions: ‘Once, while lying on top of me, she began to tremble, \/ then shook violently and abruptly stopped, \/ then floated halfway to the ceiling. \/ She was playing God, or I was. I don’t remember.’ The outlandish is presented so matter-of-factly that I found myself delightedly half-believing the speaker’s assertion that ‘According to the census I am not the only person \/ who lists “mailbox” as their occupation.’ Bursky’s surrealism is sensical and grounded in real emotion, which allows these poems to soar.” \u003cb\u003e—Matthea Harvey, author of \u003ci\u003eIf the Tabloids Are True What Are You?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eLet's Become a Ghost Story\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet’s scare each other—it’s what lovers do.\u003cbr\u003eWe owe each other that much.\u003cbr\u003eSo why not, we’ve done worse.\u003cbr\u003eTogether we’re under construction.\u003cbr\u003eThis has nothing to do with hammers and nails\u003cbr\u003eany part of our bodies can be a soldering iron.\u003cbr\u003eSeparate we’re the punchline to each other’s joke.\u003cbr\u003eThe other night I saw a woman run naked\u003cbr\u003efrom a house across the street.\u003cbr\u003eI wanted her to be you—fearless\u003cbr\u003ewarm flesh steaming, glowing in a cold mist.\u003cbr\u003eYou can be suffering and I can be sugar\u003cbr\u003eor you can be sugar and I’ll be suffering. It’s up to you.\u003cbr\u003eThe more we collaborate the more frightening we can be.\u003cbr\u003eLet’s practice naked under the whitest sheets.\u003cbr\u003eLet’s take turns pretending to be the wind,\u003cbr\u003eslip out through an open window. Let’s steal things.\u003cbr\u003eYou steal the daffodils from the graveyard.\u003cbr\u003eI’ll steal the plastic rabbit from the neighbor’s yard\u003cbr\u003eand finally be good at something—that’s the scary part.\u003cbr\u003eAre you frightened yet, it’s an emotion\u003cbr\u003ethat must be constantly relearned\u003cbr\u003elike biting your tongue or mine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":31210281730129,"sku":"9781942683995","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/LetsBecomeAGhostStory_CVR.jpg?v=1579695660","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/lets-become-a-ghost-story","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}