Some Bodies in the Grief Bed
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Homebound Publications
Published:27th May '21
Should be back in stock very soon
Some Bodies in the Grief Bed is Rick Benjamin’s latest attempt to find the intersection of the human and the non-human in the context of this earth’s ecology. A poem about migrations butterflies and others make might be followed by another appearing in the life of a family; and this poet is always trying to face down the distinction between them. At the same time, he is deeply interested in every detail of either: giraffe’s eating an Acacia’s topmost leaves and pods; the way the sound of percussive roofs in rain bring up memories a boy might have thought he’d buried. These are offered as equal parts of one book, planets orbiting around the same sun. As the title suggests, Some Bodies in the Grief Bed evolves around loss, but also those moments of ecstasy and joy that are attached to them. As Martín suggests, such grief is also and always just another opportunity to praise everything and everyone we’ve been lucky enough to hold and have in this world without keeping. This book reminds us both to hold each moment and to be more mindful of what it’s made (out) of— the organic, impermanent nature of our “passing love” (Langston Hughes) on this planet.
"'Suppose the cure for death / was simply dying / toward a new life,' writes Rick Benjamin in this collection strung with equal parts elegy and imagination. In Some Bodies in the Grief Bed, Benjamin trains his focus forward and backward, giving names to all that grief makes kin: the violence of borders, memories of childhood, bodies that hurt and haunt and, finally, come apart. But this is a gentle looking. If it’s possible to write with compassion for the words themselves, it’s here, where Benjamin’s signature, clear voice invites us to 'briefly celebrate together' the ties that bind, even—maybe especially—in the wake of their breaking." -Franny Choi
I am very moved by Rick Benjamin's poems— I love his subjects, his style, his whole sensibility. -Naomi Shihab Nye
"Good poets are able to paint a picture or set a scene by using their abilities to observe and record. It is often the poet who tells the story of transcendent beauty, such as that of a butterfly. A better poet is able to also see the pain inside the beauty. However, it is a truly remarkable poet who is able to connect the beauty and pain of a migratory butterfly to the larger human world and give us new insight into both. Throughout Rick Benjamin’s Some Bodies in the Grief Bed, in poem and sparkling poem, he reminds us how human we can still be, and in doing so, he also reminds us how gifted a poet he is." -Le Hinton
ISBN: 9781953340047
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
120 pages