{"product_id":"parthenopi-new-and-selected-poems","title":"Parthenopi: New and Selected Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn the title poem of this collection, the speaker declares that “the common measure of love is loss,” a signature motif of the work of Michael Waters, one of the finest poets of his generation. \u003cem\u003eParthenopi: New and Selected Poems\u003c\/em\u003e blends the best of Waters’ vivid and sensual poems from his previous collections with new work. Like Whitman, Waters challenges us to embrace humanity’s imperfections while, at the same time, urging us toward new spiritual realities. Riding the confluence of idea and metaphor, these poems maintain their psychological intensity even as they evoke sharp memories and the various dynamics of emotional aftermath.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eScotch and Sun\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Home from night shift, my father \u003cbr\u003e was too wired from fighting warehouse fires\u003cbr\u003e to sleep--so he'd sip several Dewar's,\u003cbr\u003e then rouse me for a morning at the beach.\u003cbr\u003e There the combination of scotch and sun\u003cbr\u003e would knock him out for a couple hours\u003cbr\u003e while I invented tasks near the breakage--\u003cbr\u003e skimming clam shells, counting one-legged gulls--\u003cbr\u003e till he woke to hoist me onto his shoulders\u003cbr\u003e and march into the sea, deeper with each step.\u003cbr\u003e He'd look down to find a boy propped there,\u003cbr\u003e his blazing, acceptable burden, his crown, almost\u003cbr\u003e an abstraction shimmering from his skull, \u003cbr\u003e some image of himself he once believed he'd been.\u003cbr\u003e Then arch his neck to shut away the glare. \u003cbr\u003e That noon I leaned too far back, back until my head\u003cbr\u003e dipped into the combers, then below...\u003cbr\u003e I struggled, thrashing my legs, \u003cbr\u003e but my father clasped them tighter, closer\u003cbr\u003e to his chest, oblivious, and went on\u003cbr\u003e breasting the rollers, teasing the undertow.\u003cbr\u003e Those broad shoulders eclipsed the sun. \u003cbr\u003e Then hands grasped my hair--I was choking--\u003cbr\u003e while my startled father stammered excuses\u003cbr\u003e to the impromptu chorus of gawking bathers.\u003cbr\u003e He was more surprised than I, more scared.\u003cbr\u003e He shook when he told my furious mother.\u003cbr\u003e He simply had no idea, he said. Jesus,\u003cbr\u003e that boy almost drowned\u003cbr\u003e though I held him in my arms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e © BOA Editions, Ltd 2000 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Available editions:\u003cbr\u003e --------------------------------------------------------------------------------\u003cbr\u003e Cloth ISBN: 1-880238-96-9\u003cbr\u003e Price: $25.00 \u003cbr\u003e Publishing Date: December 2000\u003cbr\u003e Paperback ISBN: 1-880238-95-5\u003cbr\u003e Price: $15.95\u003cbr\u003e Publishing Date: December 2000\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":null,"offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":9802326917,"sku":"1880238955","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cloth","offer_id":8418777925,"sku":"1-880238-96-9","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/PARTHENOPI.jpg?v=1527683310","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/parthenopi-new-and-selected-poems","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}