{"product_id":"squalls-9781639805075","title":"Squalls","description":"Ed Ruzicka takes us through \"days of tragedy and joy\" illuminating jeweled moments under\u003cbr\u003e\"a tender rain\" when \"Beads dangle at the tips off slender crepe myrtle branches.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eSqualls\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e navigates through the disasters of life on the Gulf Coast of storms and floods and more personal wreckage: \"I had something I lost. I want \/ something others have. Tomorrow \/ is\u003cbr\u003earound one more hard corner.\" Yet past the hard corners he looks above to find solace \"under\u003cbr\u003ethe mammoth \/ teat of a milky aurora...\" So that when he gets back down to earth and its\u003cbr\u003estorms, a plain fact acquires a grace of humble redemption and humor: \"I have this, one\u003cbr\u003ewheelbarrow full of rain.\" This is a man rooted in his life who improbably writes poetry in\u003cbr\u003elove of his daughters, against his losses and upon his joys. I like being in Ed Ruzicka's world.\u003cbr\u003eYou will too.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Rodger Kamenetz, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Jew in the Lotus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Missing Jew\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNothing is too insignificant-a toddler discovering its tongue or a flattened gum wrapper on a\u003cbr\u003epath-to evade Ed Ruzicka's eye, nothing too commonplace to resist exploring. However\u003cbr\u003esmall its beginning, each poem in \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eSqualls\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e becomes a flood, a story whose banks can't contain the deluge of its images, and yet a story whose images never slow an inexorable push toward a surprising and satisfying finish. Each of these poems is its own intoxication.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Charles deGravelles author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eBilly Cannon: A Long, Long Run\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Well Governed Son\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom a blind, old dog named Pup to a little girl who sings to it, from a house painter falling in\u003cbr\u003elove, to how the homeless sleep, Ed Ruzicka brings a keen eye and a sympathetic ear to the\u003cbr\u003erhythms of life and the forms of poetry. Rain and river and raw love flow through the pages\u003cbr\u003eof \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eSqualls.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Joe Cottonwood, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eFoggy Dog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eRandom Saints\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kelsay Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51183460319506,"sku":"9781639805075","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b39e419c-8073-4c1d-b3ce-b51a01310254.jpg?v=1744467577","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/squalls-9781639805075","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}