{"product_id":"an-affront-to-gravity-paperback","title":"An Affront to Gravity - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eSteve Trenam\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e As far as poetry is concerned, I am neither sure-footed nor clear. Metaphorically speaking, I am out on a leafless limb with just spider webs and moss, listening to the silken slip of water over stone. And the fact that no one understands me, doesn't make me an artist. My poems will probably not send a flurry of palpitations through the Gallery of Important Things Said, but then, my expectations have always been unreasonably high. Sometimes, when a poem fails, I carry around my ineptitude like a bowling ball, for the rest of the day envisioning the blank page just lying there, a fallen tree from the forest, soundlessly waiting. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e I would much prefer my poems give the reader a sudden inhalation of joy-a reflexive gasp of awe and wonder-like seeing a Ferris wheel for the first time. If this volume has that effect on even a small portion of the reading populace, I will be ecstatic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are few activities that give me more pleasure than nudging\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewords across the blankly disquieting page, and pushing clay\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003earound, into, and through itself. I have been fortunate to work in\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etwo disciplines, writing and ceramics, and I have discovered the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eend result seldom exactly matches the goal in either. It is the work\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat matters-the engagement of my imagination, the intuitive\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003euse of my mind and hands. In the end, the artist discovers art has\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ea mind of its own, and it is these repeated realizations that enrich\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003emy life. As much as any other work that I do, these small transformative\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ejourneys carry me (for the most part) forward.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy mother owned a bookstore from 1962 to 1985 in Petaluma, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCalifornia. It was called Alta's Old Book Shop, and its value\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elay not in glossy modernity, but in its being a sort of dusty delivery\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eroom for the birth of ideas. It was for me, a refuge from hasty\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ejudgment, a source for answers and insights which enlarged my\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epersonal life and gave it meaning, and also generated an impulse\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto write.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI am currently teaching a poetry writing class at the Vintage\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHouse Senior Center in Sonoma as part of the Santa Rosa Junior\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCollege Older Adults Program. There is magic in this group of\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epeople; they are blossoming as poets and contributing immeasurably\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto my own ability to write poetry. I am most thankful for\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etheir presence in my life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 100\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.24 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 16, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42728853602367,"sku":"9781421836751","price":25.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/a4c41759e13b818609466f93c0b5be82.webp?v=1765120028","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/an-affront-to-gravity-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}