{"product_id":"spoken-in-the-dark-poems-2018-2020-paperback","title":"Spoken in the Dark: Poems, 2018-2020 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJames Cushing\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI could say James Cushing's poetry is located on a Jungian dreamscape between fairy tale and French Surrealism, with Luis Buñuel and Borges wandering nearby, but I won't-because \"locate\" is the wrong word. This poetry won't stay anywhere for long-now you see it, now it's elsewhere. It defies the quotidian, dodges ordinariness. A sense of play prevails, but the closing lines strike a baleful note, \"The night was a damp low cloud. I was barely dressed. There was no other story. 'What brought you to me today?' I asked. She shivered. 'I want your nightmare to be over.'\" Somewhere there's a disturbance in the air. This isn't mere child's play. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Suzanne Lummis, author of \u003cem\u003eCrime Wave \u003c\/em\u003e\u0026amp; \u003cem\u003eOpen 24 Hours\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eSPOKEN IN THE DARK\u003c\/em\u003e James Cushing creates an immersive, dreamlike universe: \"The past comes to me in a dream of six fresco panels\". A universe that feels impossible and at the same time real, undoubtable; like the opening verses of the book \"A horse made of candy\/forced his heavy head into our room.\" The poems navigate between what is spoken (expressed, understood) and what is dark (still to be discovered). Cushing takes the reader to \"the part of the house that's always dark\" where we are invited to search: \"Every border will be an open angel to you.\" The language is surprising, unpredictable (Cushing has been called an \"unrepentant surrealist\") but sometimes is grounded in disarming details of normalcy: \"I don't know why you are fidgeting with your phone.\" Throughout all the dark rooms that inhabit this collection, Cushing's voice emerges clear, unmistakable, revealing: \"I tried to lie, but the words come out true, \/ with no ink on them, no fingerprints, \/ as though freshly born.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Mariano Zaro, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Weight of Sound\u003c\/em\u003e \u0026amp; \u003cem\u003eDecoding Sparrows\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 98\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.23 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 01, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67972741923123,"sku":"9798995651925","price":27.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/8ugUUd4K-O9798995651925.webp?v=1794433840","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/spoken-in-the-dark-poems-2018-2020-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}