{"product_id":"through-the-oak-tree-susan-gerardi-bello-9781950462377","title":"Through the Oak Tree","description":"In his \u003ci\u003eBook of Nightmares, \u003c\/i\u003eGalway Kinnell argues that the core value of poetry is a \u003ci\u003etenderness towards existence, \u003c\/i\u003eand that tenderness can be found throughout Susan Gerardi Bello's new book, \u003ci\u003eThrough the Oak Tree. \u003c\/i\u003eNo stranger to the nightmares inherent in this human condition, the poet explores the challenges of childhood, as she and then her son have experienced them: the joy and perils of new discoveries; the loss of innocence that defines growing up and finding one's place in the world. \"What can I offer in response?\" Susan Gerardi Bello says of her son's boisterous singing, and answers \"my own voice singing.\" This is a book of endearing bravado and life-affirming tenderness. We need such books! \u003cp\u003eChristopher Bursk, author of The First Inhabitants of Arcadia\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow prominently music is featured in \u003ci\u003eThrough the Oak Tree, \u003c\/i\u003eSusan Gerardi Bello's poignant collection of poems! As we travel with the poet from childhood into adolescence and motherhood, we hear always in the background the old 45s and cassettes-Led Zeppelin and The Smiths; Prince and Elvis; Janis Joplin, reduced to an image on a postage stamp, yet with the \"soul-cry\" of her voice still \"more powerful than the train wheels scraping against metal track.\" In these poems Bello shows through each stage of life a keen awareness of the body's changes and of the contrasts between sun shimmering through treetops and \"the smell of leaf mold and ashes\" underneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoseph A. Chelius, Bucks County Poet Laureate\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSusan Gerardo Bello takes us with her on a journey through childhood and adolescence, through early experiences as a woman, through marriage and childbirth and motherhood. What emerges is a complex and nuanced picture of each stage of a woman's life. It is a picture that forms a connection between the poet and the reader, a connection so powerful it would be difficult to forget.\u003ci\u003e Through the Oak Tree \u003c\/i\u003eis a collection of poems that belongs on every nightstand. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaria Mazziotti Gillan, Winner of the American Book Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Susan Gerardi Bello\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1950462374\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781950462377\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kelsay Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/27\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 66\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.24lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.16d\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Susan Gerardi Bello","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48442738409727,"sku":"9781950462377","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_842287d5-29bd-4d46-a368-b2330afc1d88.jpg?v=1777199434","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/through-the-oak-tree-susan-gerardi-bello-9781950462377","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}