{"product_id":"9780809330287","title":"The Black Ocean","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Black Ocean\u003c\/i\u003e, poet Brian Barker attempts to make sense of some of the darkest chapters in history while peering forward to what lies ahead as the world totters in the wake of human complacence. Unveiled here are ruminations on human torture, the Chernobyl disaster, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and genocide against Native Americans. The ghosts of Lincoln, Poe, and Billie Holiday manifest from pages laden with grim prophecies and catastrophes both real and imagined. These hauntingly intense documentary poems reflect on the past in an attempt to approach it with more clarity and understanding, while offering blistering insight into the state of the world today. Barker touches upon the power of manipulation and class oppression; the depths of fear and the struggle for social justice; and reveals how failure to act—on the parts of both politicians and everyday citizens—can have the most devastating effects of all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout the volume looms the specter of the black ocean itself, a powerful metaphor for all our collective longings and despair, as we turn to face a menacing and uncertain future.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLullaby for the Last Night on Earth\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen at last we whisper, \u003ci\u003eso long, so lonesome,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand watch our house on the horizon\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ego down like a gasping zeppelin of bricks,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewe’ll turn, holding hands,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand walk the train tracks to the sea . . . \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo sing me that song where a mountain falls\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ein love with an octopus, and one thousand fireflies\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ericochet around their heads,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand I’ll dream we’re dancing in the kitchen one last time,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eswaying, the window a waystation\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof flaming leaves, the dogs shimmying\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eabout our legs,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e                            dragging their golden capes of rain . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eO my critter, my thistle, gal-o-my-dreams,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003elift your voice like an oar into the darkness,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efor all the sad birds are falling down—\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNothing in this night is ours.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Southern Illinois University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47026510299376,"sku":"9780809330287","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780809330287_p0.jpg?v=1763741562","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780809330287","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}