{"product_id":"journey-of-trees-9781956285581","title":"Journey of Trees","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist, The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize 2023\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eJourney of Trees\u003c\/em\u003e, we find layers of fire, family, fruition, failure. Life is a journey, and trees can help us and\/or show us where we've been and where we might go. These poems are both cautionary and celebratory. What has been felled-trees or a marriage, a dream or a body-might rise again in some other form or direction. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTrees talk. If we listen, we can learn from them. And if we revere them, spend time with them, we can become more spiritually enriched. In fact, trees are our better \"half\" -taking in carbon monoxide and releasing oxygen. Photosynthesis is a Greek word meaning \"light\" and \"putting together.\" In other words, if trees weren't here, we wouldn't be either. These poems of Susan Landgraf also have a way of putting things together and shedding light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe poems in Susan Landgraf's \u003cem\u003eJourney of Trees \u003c\/em\u003eare bursting with fire, fed by the kindling of myth and lyrical curiosity. Deeply meditative, these poems linger in spiritual landscapes, with music in each lush line: \"a moth's wings singe.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-Jane Wong, author of \u003cem\u003eMeet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, How to Not Be Afraid of Everything\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eOverpour\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSusan Landgraf's \u003cem\u003eJourney of Trees\u003c\/em\u003e is a craftsman's art, of burnished grain and fine joinery. This elegant, exquisitely crafted collection is rooted in mythologies that have traveled across time and cultures, branching delicately into the origin stories and fairy tales of an individual childhood, a marriage. Throughout the journey the tree is sentry, companion, instrument- anchoring seaside or river's edge, holding the climbing child, framing the death bed. Within this ancient wood of tree families, and family trees, stories are created or received, or, as in \"Psalm Tree\" (\u003cem\u003eDearest willow, which art in weeping, \/ Sorrow hath begotten your name\u003c\/em\u003e) reworked, whittled or grafted anew. In bounty of leaf, apple, bird, these poems- at once quiet and mighty- show how we story-tell our way into truth-telling. And why? Because \u003cem\u003ewords ... prepare the soul.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-Sati Mookherjee, author of \u003cem\u003eEye\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWays of Being\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Poetry Box","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50869874131218,"sku":"9781956285581","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_8bfe6097-0f68-4d5b-aaee-a2394e104d83.jpg?v=1737774552","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/journey-of-trees-9781956285581","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}