{"product_id":"to-bend-and-braid-paperback","title":"To Bend and Braid - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEmily Patterson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn spare couplets that echo the intensity of the mother-child relationship, Emily Patterson's gorgeous new collection captures the intimacy, fear, and beauty of early parenthood. The poems are impressive in their attention to the usual blur of early motherhood, with its typical selflessness and sleep deprivation, as they awaken again and again to wonder. If you, like me, neglected to fully absorb the mystery of those deceptively simple first years, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Bend and Braid\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e offers you the rare gift to revisit them again-this time with an illuminating guide. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeather Lanier, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eRaising a Rare Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn these tender and carefully crafted poems, Patterson paints an individual experience of early motherhood while embracing that which connects us and makes us all human-coming from another's body: \"its familiar \/ weight . . . the kind we both knew from our \/ mothers' bodies, our earliest nights.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Bend and Braid\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e teaches us to welcome small and grand wonders; from the ancient oak to the miniscule moth, Patterson shows us how motherhood transforms the world around us \"exactly and not at all as we began.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulia Kolchinsky Dasbach, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003e40 WEEKS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Bend and Braid\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is an unabashed catalog of love and discovery: a child discovers the world, and a mother discovers a new way of seeing. In delicate, observational lyrics, Emily Patterson upends the idea of parent as teacher and guide. Instead, as mother and daughter travel through field and forest and dinner table, the mother recognizes how she is being transformed: \"You are no slate, blank or otherwise- \/ it's the world and me, awaiting your color.\" Patterson reminds us of everyday miracles; her book invites us to encounter the world anew.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEmily Pérez, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat Flies Want, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ewinner of the Iowa Prize\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePatterson weaves a collection of lyrical prose in her chapbook, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Bend and Braid, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e which explores motherhood's conflict of holding on and letting go. Many of her poems focus on themes of motherhood and its everyday quality, the witnessing of the unfolding of a childhood, and the awe and simultaneous helplessness knowing children will forge their own roads. \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Bend and Braid\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e tries to make sense of the uncertain terrain and the poems serve as a refuge to soothe the prickly texture of what it means to reckon with motherhood. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRudri Bhatt Patel\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 38\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.08 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 01, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51750717554976,"sku":"9781639803743","price":22.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/6ebe9575220b971fb81faa2e3f6cf8fe.webp?v=1779956736","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/to-bend-and-braid-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}