{"product_id":"when-our-fathers-return-to-us-as-birds-9780814348505","title":"When Our Fathers Return to Us as Birds","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eA luminous and heartfelt collection of mourning poetry.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver the course of two decades and six books, Peter Markus has been making fiction out of a lexicon shaped by the words\u003ci\u003e brother\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003efish\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003emud\u003c\/i\u003e. In an essay on Markus's work, Brian Evenson writes, \"If it's not clear by now, Markus's use of English is quite unique. It is instead a sort of ritual speech, an almost religious invocation in which words themselves, through repetition, acquire a magic or power that revives the simpler, blunter world of childhood.\" Now, in his debut book of poems, \u003ci\u003eWhen Our Fathers Return to Us as Birds, \u003c\/i\u003eMarkus tunes his eye and ear toward a new world, a world where \u003ci\u003efather\u003c\/i\u003e is the new \u003ci\u003ebrother\u003c\/i\u003e, a world where the father's slow dying and eventual death leads Markus, the son, to take a walk outside to \"meet my shadow in the deepening shade.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this collection, a son is simultaneously caring for his father, losing his father, and finding his dead father in the trees and the water and the sky. He finds solace in the birds and in the river that runs between his house and his parents' house, with its view of the shut-down steel mill on the river's other side, now in the process of being torn down. The book is steadily punctuated by this recurring sentence that the son wakes up to each day: \u003ci\u003eMy father is dying in a house across the river. \u003c\/i\u003eThe rhythmic and recursive nature to these poems places the reader right alongside the son as he navigates his journey of mourning. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese are poems written in conversation with the poems of Jack Gilbert, Linda Gregg, Jim Harrison, Jane Kenyon, Raymond Carver, Theodore Roethke too--poets whose poems at times taught Markus how to speak. \"In a dark time . . .,\" we often hear it said, \"there are no words.\" But the truth is, there are always words. Sometimes our words are all we have to hold onto, to help us see through the darkened woods and muddy waters, times when the ear begins to listen, the eye begins to see, and the mouth, the body, and the heart, in chorus, begin to speak. Fans of Markus's work and all of those who are caring for dying parents or grieving their loss will find comfort, kinship, and appreciation in this honest and beautiful collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Markus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wayne State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e Made in Michigan Writers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 5.90w x 0.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814348505","brand":"Wayne State University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42439186219145,"sku":"9780814348505","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_05db6d3d-da10-47ee-9d08-dda5e0f66cfa.jpg?v=1716269237","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/when-our-fathers-return-to-us-as-birds-9780814348505","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}