Search results for ""author sharon cumberland""
Black Heron Press Peculiar Honors
Peculiar Honors is a collection of poems about how things appear to be one way, then surprise us by being something else. There is an alternative reality that becomes visible only through the lens of poetry. What seems to be an egg, or a crossing signal, or a child sitting in a shopping cart turns out to be a portal into the unexpected. These poems are about things that seem dire or misconceived-a nephew's death, a detour into the wrong profession-but which are redeemed through reconstruction in poetry. Organized around quotes from Isaac Watts, the poems tackle big questions and small oddities with equal force, starting with Watts' prayer to Let every creature rise and bring/peculiar honors to our King. Each poem is a peculiar honor - a look through the ordinary to those strange, difficult, and triumphant things that poetry reveals.
£13.95
Black Heron Press Strange with Age
Strange with Age, by prize-winning poet Sharon Cumberland, explores the gains and losses of the ageing process through the prism of her 95-year-old father, as well as other, wide-ranging subjects concerned with the vagaries and challenges of living. Built around the sonnet cycle "My Father Has Grown Strange with Age," the poems reflect the poet's travels to Rome, Glasgow, Seattle, and San Francisco, and an array of nursing homes, fantasies, and dreams. Cumberland's poems are known for the clarity and accessibility of her voice. They can be understood and appreciated by adolescent and college readers, while mature readers will find a treasure trove of meaning in the clever use of imagery and metaphor. Cumberland is also known for her spirituality in the tradition of Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, and Denise Levertov. Her poems explore the mysteries of faith, both in contemporary and biblical settings, without being off-putting to secular readers. Her work is a magic mirror in which the reader can see the extraordinary through the mundanity of daily life. Sandra Cisneros calls Cumberland's poetry "truer than x-ray or photo." Kathleen Flenniken says the Strange with Age offers "truth, consolation, and a lovely sense of humor."
£14.95
