{"product_id":"middle-earth-poems-9780374529284","title":"Middle Earth: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime was plunging forward, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003elike dolphins scissoring open water or like me, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003efollowing Jenny's flippers down to see the coral reef, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ewhere the color of sand, sea and sky merged, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eand it was as if that was all God wanted: \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003enot a wife, a house or a position, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ebut a self, like a needle, pushing in a vein.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-from \"Olympia\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn his fifth collection of verse, Henri Cole's melodious lines are written in an open style that is both erotic and visionary. Few poets so thrillingly portray the physical world, or man's creaturely self, or the cycling strain of desire and self-reproach. Few poets so movingly evoke the human quest of \"a man alone,\" trying --to say something true that has body, because it is proof of his existence.. . \u003ci\u003e Middle Earth\u003c\/i\u003e is a revelatory collection, the finest work yet from an author of poems that are . . .marvels-unbuttoned, riveting, dramatic-burned into being-- (Tina Barr, \u003ci\u003eBoston Review\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHenri Cole\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Fukuoka, Japan, and was raised in Virginia. The recipient of many awards, he is the author of four previous books of poems, most recently \u003ci\u003eThe Look of Things \u003c\/i\u003e(1995) and \u003ci\u003eThe Visible Man\u003c\/i\u003e (1998). He is poet-in-residence at Smith College.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50491697201426,"sku":"9780374529284","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_98458c8b-e6b7-4833-9340-37509de9722c.jpg?v=1730550325","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/middle-earth-poems-9780374529284","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}