{"product_id":"9780819502261","title":"America, A Love Story","description":"\u003cb\u003eNew poems on love, family, and art from the author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmerica, A Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e is Camille T. Dungy's powerful testament to living and loving as a Black woman and mother in today's America, and her first book of poetry in almost a decade. Piercingly honest and deeply compassionate, this poetry moves through the mounting griefs of contemporary American life with unwavering clarity. The book is part indictment, part celebration—full of gratitude, fear, resistance, and hope. Dungy explores intimacy, parenting, racism, history, and the natural world with clarity and depth. Some poems reflect on the past; others respond to the work of contemporary Black artists. Many are formally playful, including a series of 700-character poems inspired by the 700 hours of sleep a mother loses in her child's first year. Gorgeous, bright, and bold, these poems speak from the edges—between mother and child, body and earth, self and country. They hold tension and tenderness in equal measure, creating a space for love amidst uncertainty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[sample poem]\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTo enter our own empty house\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eShe was seven when we stopped\u003cbr\u003eusing keys. One less thing to lose.\u003cbr\u003eNow we punch a combination.\u003cbr\u003eEasy, but hopefully not so easy\u003cbr\u003ea stranger could guess. This is where\u003cbr\u003eI should stop. They are bound\u003cbr\u003eto be angry, my beloveds. I am\u003cbr\u003egiving away all our secrets again.\u003cbr\u003eVulnerability is the root of much fury.\u003cbr\u003e                            =\u003cbr\u003eI was small. A stone in the yard\u003cbr\u003ehid a metal case with a lid\u003cbr\u003ethat slid like a matchbox top\u003cbr\u003eto reveal our key. Lifting that rock\u003cbr\u003eI thought of bashing someone's head. \u003cbr\u003eI thought of harm lurking, dressed\u003cbr\u003ein the body of some stranger. \u003cbr\u003e                            =\u003cbr\u003eSometimes, I wrestle my daughter.\u003cbr\u003eI make her tiny body work itself\u003cbr\u003eout from under the weight I make \u003cbr\u003eof my own. In this way I try \u003cbr\u003eto teach her how it feels to break free.\u003ci\u003eAmerica, A Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Wesleyan University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43142089834557,"sku":"9780819502261","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0603\/0838\/9949\/files\/9780819502261_p0.jpg?v=1777634878","url":"https:\/\/www.tatteredcover.com\/products\/9780819502261","provider":"Tattered Cover","version":"1.0","type":"link"}