{"product_id":"hillbilly-guilt-9780999491560","title":"Hillbilly Guilt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHillbilly Guilt \u003c\/em\u003eis populated with those whose lives aren't deemed important: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe poor and working poor of Appalachia, who live what it is to be American.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a book that seeks to show that we are the sum of our mistakes. Not just \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe little goofs, either; but the huge, world-shattering blunders that go to the core \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof what it is to be human. The title poem \"Hillbilly Guilt\"-the frontispiece and \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eforward to the book as a whole-asserts moments of resilience if not Triumph, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe chance to heal if not a deliverance from the possibility of further injury: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI waved someone down who took us to a hospital.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI recall he broke his nose. That it bled and bled\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand that he wanted me to believe what he said\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehappened, had happened that way. He seemed \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto want not to feel what he felt at having risked\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eour lives for nothing. Oh, and I have to tell you: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe Chevy-to-a-hospital that stopped had a Virgin \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMary on its curving, blue dashboard and that plastic\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efigure said what it said about having a little faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese poems exist in a kind of \u003cem\u003eTwilight Zone\u003c\/em\u003e of expectation and hope and knowing that country by a whole bunch of names. As a survivor of the Great American Beating We Give Ourselves for Falling Short, the writer invites us to live, innocent and less so-as in the poem \"Lazarus, Later\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDon't get me wrong. I was in a hurry to flee the tomb.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eQuick to step from one imperium of flesh into another.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHowever, I paused a short while to let my eyes adjust.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot to be honored or genuflect but to let it all sink in.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBentley, Roy:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Roy Glenn Bentley is an Appalachian-American poet and university creative writing professor. The lives of the poor in America are the primary focus of his work. He has been published in poetry journals as well as in four books of poetry and ten chapbooks. He currently resides in Pataskala, Ohio, in the USA. Roy Bentley's poems have appeared in Blackbird, Shenandoah, Rattle, The Southern Review, and Prairie Schooner--as well as many other notable journals and magazines. He is the recipient of a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and fellowships from the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs and the Ohio Arts Council. Hillbilly Guilt is the winner of the Willow Run Poetry Book Award.","brand":"Hidden River","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50862099136786,"sku":"9780999491560","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_1550f0b4-4f9c-4712-b4e8-6edcd96f0ada.jpg?v=1737612830","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/hillbilly-guilt-9780999491560","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}