{"product_id":"the-long-haul-paperback","title":"The Long Haul - 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\u003eKen Gierke\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"When watching a loved one die slowly - over a span of months or years - the five stages of grief don't wait around for that final breath. Even so, we're never ready, even when we are. \u003cem\u003eIt was too late\u003c\/em\u003e, Ken Gierke writes. \u003cem\u003eFor all of us, it was too early. \u003c\/em\u003eThe long passing of a parent, someone who's passed on half of our DNA, carries with it a sixth stage: Waiting for our bodies to betray us as well. Gierke's \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul \u003c\/em\u003ecaptures that somber matter-of-factness through three narrative threads: The death of Gierke's father, his own yearlong health crisis when his gallbladder went bad, and a congenital hole in a wall of his heart. He recounts each in small telling details: a panhandler near his father's hospital, stubbed toes turning blue, the sound of Miles Davis' horn as the last of the anesthesia wears off. The poems here acknowledge grief, apprehension, pain physical and psychic. They do not, however, wallow in them. \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul\u003c\/em\u003e lives in those fifth and sixth stages - and are far more affecting and effective for that. When Gierke writes \u003cem\u003eNothing to do but let it play \/ until the clock runs down, \u003c\/em\u003e we set our mouths and nod along with him. We have been there, we are there, and we and our loved ones will be there sooner or later.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Steve Brisendine, author, \u003cem\u003ePitch Invader on a Foosball Table\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBehind the Wall Cloud of Sleep\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This book is a family affair and we learn the journey we are on is never completed even after decades have passed, even if our secrets, expectations, and obligations are buried in the backyard garden waiting for the next resurrection. And we learn that life takes a lifetime for all the body's failures to coalesce, and become a place that he can hold onto until he can't and hello becomes goodbye. \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul\u003c\/em\u003e by Ken Gierke is a love story. All of us are born here by a mother and father. Ken's father taught him to confront life, not to surrender, not to back away. There is nothing that is definite, determined, lasting. Ken learns that life is relative, changing, growing, following up and down in expected and unexpected paths. There is always something to share, someone to thank and he does thank his father for his guidance many times.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Walter Bargen, first Poet Laureate of Missouri and author of \u003cem\u003eOrwell at the Kremlin\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKen Gierke is not afraid to challenge us and himself in his lovely collection of moving poems found in \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul\u003c\/em\u003e, an amazing book about love, loss, and the illusive nature of time. It's also about the creative impulse to remember and record it all while voices break through, sometimes in dreams, to remind us of those we've lost and the lessons they gave us. It's about the journey, the long hall, as time grows short and the future is uncertain. As Gierke says: \u003cem\u003eIt's about new days and making memories. Death will have to wait. I'll take every minute, every scribbled line that comes my way.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Terry Allen, author, \u003cem\u003eRubber Time\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePreserving the Past for the Present\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are narratives, timelines, converging like scenery passing windshield to sideview in \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul. \u003c\/em\u003eIn this collection Gierke finds peace in his past and specifically in his memories of his father. Those same memories become even more real as his own health crisis come to light. Through each hospital corridor, as alarms beep from all directions, frustration mounts and grace bleeds through. In \u003cem\u003eThe Long Haul \u003c\/em\u003eseasons pass as moments that can be savored.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Jason Baldinger, author, \u003cem\u003eAmerican Aorta\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 92\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.22 x 8 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 27, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53425861427507,"sku":"9798899750397","price":25.72,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/G3TXeAbG399798899750397.webp?v=1780524457","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/the-long-haul-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}