{"product_id":"this-elegance","title":"This Elegance","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInterweaving the sacred and the erotic, \u003cem\u003eThis Elegance\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eengages with visual arts through the concept of \u003cem\u003esacra conversazione\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(“sacred conversation”), a style of Renaissance painting that imagines divine communion across time and space. \u003c\/strong\u003eHere, artists, thinkers, and pop icons commune in a similar sacred dialogue—Kathleen Collins, André Leon Talley, Richmond Barthé, Lyle Ashton Harris, Juan de Pareja, Janelle Monáe, Symone, and others appear as guiding spirits and creative kin.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a Black, queer person so often dislocated from time and place, pleasure becomes an act of resistance—a grounding in the now. \u003cem\u003eThis Elegance\u003c\/em\u003e is a love song—an offering to Black artistry, a tribute to visionary lives, and a testament to the power of beauty in even our most precarious moments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePraise for Derrick Austin\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e “Austin’s poems are bounded by conditions of extremity, but unfold, with delicacy and in repose, between those conditions.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Ray McDaniel, \u003cem\u003eThe Constant Critic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“In Austin’s hands, the exquisite can be ominous while the grotesque can turn charming, and his poems wisely assert that the world is unforgiving and yet full of mercy—that one can question beauty and yet still be beholden to it.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Austin is a lyrical architect, rendering with urgency and plain-spokenness what is arguably the most challenging kind of loneliness: that experienced amidst others.” \u003cstrong\u003e—Phillip B. Williams,\u003cem\u003e NPR\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eArt Restorer\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are these figures up to? Who knows.\u003cbr\u003eIt’s hard to read a weathered expression.\u003cbr\u003eIn an apron, I arrange my tools in rows:\u003cbr\u003ecotton swabs to clean faded, celestial hose,\u003cbr\u003ea scalpel for wax on a distant mountain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are these figures up to? Who knows\u003cbr\u003eif angels can curse or grieve Golgotha’s woes.\u003cbr\u003eLeading our gaze, accessories to Magdalene\u003cbr\u003eand Christ, they show us what to feel. Suppose\u003cbr\u003ethey look like us, their faces a lost reflection?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat are these figures up to? Who knows.\u003cbr\u003eThe panel cracked from heat. An x-ray shows\u003cbr\u003epatterns in the wood I preserve or recondition.\u003cbr\u003ePicture its candlelit past: a draft blows\u003cbr\u003eagainst chafed pilgrims wrapped in sheepskin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRecovering the shades and shadows\u003cbr\u003eof different eras and other worlds, I imagine\u003cbr\u003eI do good work here. At last, this corner glows.\u003cbr\u003eCenturies of varnish dissolve. Sickly yellows\u003cbr\u003eleave Mary’s face. Her eyes are wet and sanguine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47926088106213,"sku":null,"price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47926088138981,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Ebook","offer_id":49920399900901,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/files\/ThisElegance_CVR_1600px_RGB_LG.jpg?v=1760729102","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/this-elegance","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}