{"product_id":"its-hard-enough-to-fly-paperback","title":"It's Hard Enough to Fly - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eDonald Wheelock\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWheelock's introductory metaphor describes a poet's challenge: \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo launch with billowing sails \/ a course aimed true, in sight, \/ well-rhymed, concise, entails \/ lines hauled in tight.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eWheelock packages his views about the world in literal terms-\"the froth of distant ocean surf \/ exploding against the dory-sides\" or fog (\"a second sea\"); \"the hawk knows hunger: it is himself \"; the hummingbird is a \"jeweled artifact.\" A boot jack or a highboy become more than domestic objects.\u003cbr\u003eWheelock describes sleep as \"a little patch of death without a dream\"-\"night's vacuum\"- \"a handout from eternity\" \"death is \"a gift of nothing.\" But this isn't a heavy book. It's scattered throughout with wit. The heart, a \"knotted fist of stubborn shiny gristle\" as a symbol for love? \"Why not a liver, or a brain, a bowel?\"\u003cbr\u003e Above all-whatever his topic-these are indeed lines hauled in tight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Deborah Warren, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eConnoisseurs of Worms\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDonald Wheelock's \"Billowing Sails\" declares his intent: \"To launch with billowing sails \/ a course aimed true, in sight, \/ well-rhymed, concise, entails \/ lines hauled in tight.\" It also entails a welcome display of playful, ironic humor of the sort that pervades \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eIt's \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eHard Enough to Fly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e throughout. A notable achievement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-William H. Pritchard, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eLives of the Modern Poets\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTurning to formal poetry in his ninth decade, the composer and educator Donald Wheelock has proven to be a quick study, fashioning poems of clarity and concision. In his poem, \"Plus One Makes Four,\" Wheelock compresses material worthy of a novella into seventy-five short lines. \"Above the Arctic Ice\" reads like a poem by Deborah Warren, whom Wheelock acknowledges as a mentor. Silence plays a part in many of the best poems gathered here. There is an unspoken exchange at the heart of \"Meeting on the Stairs.\" A silence unintentional and final haunts the poems \"Obituary Picture, 2021\" and \"Alone.\" \"Wake\" is the quietest of elegies. Indeed, silence is allowed to have the last word in \"From Where This Silence Settled,\" and in \"Is Every Death Our Own?\" Often, a first book is said to show promise. This one arrives as a promise fulfilled.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Alfred Nicol, Author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eAnimal Psalms\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 96\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.2 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 03, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42719442239551,"sku":"9781639801572","price":32.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/6b31151c84032cc3b03e99e7cf55e613.webp?v=1765085634","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/its-hard-enough-to-fly-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}