{"product_id":"focused-light-from-a-distant-star-paperback","title":"Focused Light from a Distant Star - 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\u003eToni Ortner\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToni Ortner's chapbook, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eFocused Light from a Distant Star, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of 39 ekphrastic poems and prose poems. Most were inspired by the works \"created by women in the last two centuries,\" says Ortner in her Preface including Natalya Goncharova, Frida Kahlo, Louise Nevelson, Helen Frankenthaler, and Kiki Smith. But men, too, are represented most notably with poems on Pieter Bruegel's \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Magpie\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eon the Gallows\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eStorm at Sea, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e which concludes with the lines, \"The heavy schooner founders in the waves\/ We hear the sound of splintered wood and screams.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-J. D. Solonche, author of 31 books of poetry and nominated three times for the Pulitzer Prize\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The poet indulges useless subjective emotions\" is what they said of Pasternak, who yet laid bare the soul of half a nation, and so does Toni Ortner who exhumes a rich heritage of half a culture of women artists.\u003cbr\u003e\"They are unknown but they lie in the rough basement, \u003cbr\u003eFor who else built the stubborn structure of language, \u003cbr\u003eAnd rose against a silent melancholy and a dumb despair?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn an age seemingly content to express itself with emotions, here are relics of the numinous beams and sinews focused from a different star; addressing, challenging, and recharging forgotten or marginalized batteries for the life of our times. This is the reportage of the soul for what we cannot express will oppress us.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Phil Innes, publisher of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eVermont Views Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 58\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.12 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 06, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47868551823581,"sku":"9781639804740","price":32.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/sZPZa89WjG9781639804740.webp?v=1777633038","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/focused-light-from-a-distant-star-paperback","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}