{"product_id":"only-bread-only-light-poems","title":"Only Bread, Only Light: Poems","description":"With this, his first collection of poetry, Stephen Kuusisto (author of the memoir Planet of the Blind) explores blindness and curiosity, loneliness and the found instruments of continuation. Exploiting the seeming contradiction of poetry’s reliance upon visual imagery with Kuusisto’s own sightlessness, these poems cultivate a world of listening: to the natural world, to the voices of family and strangers, to music and the words of great writers and thinkers.\nKuusisto has written elsewhere, \"I see like a person who looks through a kaleidoscope; my impressions of the world at once beautiful and largely useless.\" So it is no surprise that in his poems mortal vision is uncertain, supported only by the ardor of imagination and the grace of lyric surprise. Sensually rich and detailed, Kuusisto’s poems are humorous, complex, and intellectually engaged. This collection reveals a major new poetic talent.\n\n\"Only Bread, Only Light\"\n\nAt times the blind see light,\nAnd that moment is the Sistine ceiling,\n\nGrace among buildings—no one asks\nFor it, no one asks.\n\nAfter all, this is solitude,\nDaylight’s finger,\n\nBlake’s angel\nParting willow leaves.\n\nI should know better.\nGet with the business\n\nOf walking the lovely, satisfied,\nIndifferent weather—\n\nBread baking\nOn Arthur Avenue\n\nThis first warm day of June.\nI stand on the corner\n\nFor priceless seconds.\nNow everything to me falls shadow\n\nStephen Kuusisto’s 1998 memoir Planet of the Blind received tremendous international attention, including appearances on Oprah, Dateline, and Talk of the Nation. The New York Times named it a \"Notable Book of the Year\" and praised it as \"a book that makes the reader understand the terrifying experience of blindness, a book that stands on its own as the lyrical memoir of a poet.\" A spokesperson for Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Kuusisto teaches at Ohio State University.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 1556591500\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: BVV.1556591500.VG\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Very Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Kuusisto, Stephen\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Book has little sign of wear or use  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blue Vase Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43751431471165,"sku":"BVV.1556591500.VG","price":10.82,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0589\/4225\/9261\/files\/1556591500-0.jpg?v=1790975534","url":"https:\/\/www.bluevasebooks.com\/products\/only-bread-only-light-poems","provider":"Blue Vase Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}