{"product_id":"strange-hymn-poems-paperback-1","title":"Strange Hymn: Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eCarlene Kucharczyk\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \"I'll tell you everything I know. Though there might not be much to tell,\" confesses the speaker in \u003ci\u003eStrange Hymn\u003c\/i\u003e by Carlene Kucharczyk, in a meticulously crafted lyrical journey exploring morality and humanity. The poems here grapple with understanding physical loss: \"I wanted \/ to know at once and definitively our animal bodies \/ were not all we were. It is shameful to be this fragile.\" They also engage with the more abstract slipping away of memory and time: \"Since I was born, I have been forgetting. Forgetting what I have wanted to remember.\" Kucharczyk's insightful poems blur the lines between history and myth, love and grief, song and silence. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Caught between lamenting the passage of time and rejoicing in small beauties, she writes, \"I tell you, I wish we could stay here longer \/ in this hotel of lost grandeur, this palace of interesting disarray, \/ and stay here with these pieces of the impersonal past \/ that have somehow not yet outlasted their small lights.\" Each moment reflects on our ephemeral lives from musings on art and nature to reflections on the self, asking \"Is a mirror a sort of glass house? \/ And, is there a way to see ourselves besides through the glass?\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e As readers traverse this collection, they learn how the body sings, the many iterations of Mary, what sirens truly think of Odysseus, how a Morning Glory unfurls, and lessons in orthodontics, but most importantly, how to live with absence. Kucharczyk is a master of manipulating time and space through her dynamic use of form, creating a narrative that begs, \"After I'm gone, don't bury my body-- \/ Burn it, and turn it into song.\" \u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eCARLENE KUCHARCZYK's writing has appeared in literary journals such as \u003ci\u003ePoetry Northwest\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMid-American Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTupelo Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGreen Mountains Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eConduit\u003c\/i\u003e, and has received a Pushcart nomination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 80\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.3 x 8.1 x 5.3 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 04, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52730706067763,"sku":"9781625348647","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/UusAUNUjIO9781625348647_d9106864-45bb-4555-86ac-72086fea5f70.webp?v=1763841377","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/strange-hymn-poems-paperback-1","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}