{"product_id":"elegy-for-a-broken-machine-isbn-9780804172943","title":"Elegy for a Broken Machine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow in paperback, this stunning collection of elegies--a finalist for the National Book Award--bears witness to the small beauties and inevitable losses of our transient life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eElegy for a Broken Machine\u003c\/i\u003e is a son's lament for his father. It takes us from the luminous world of childhood to the fluorescent glare of operating rooms and recovery wards, and into the twilight lives of those who must go on. In one poem Phillips watches his sons play \"Mercy\" just as he did with his brother: hands laced, the stronger pushing the other back until he grunts for mercy, \"a game we played \/\/ so many times \/ I finally taught my sons, \/\/ not knowing what it was, \/ until too late, I'd done.\" Phillips documents the unsung joys of midlife, the betrayals of the human body, and his realization that as the crowd of ghosts grows, we take our places, next in line. The result is a twenty-first-century memento mori, fashioned not just from loss but also from praise, and a fierce love for the world in all its ruined splendor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePATRICK PHILLIPS \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of two previous poetry collections, \u003ci\u003eBoy\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eChattahoochee\u003c\/i\u003e, a work of nonfiction, \u003ci\u003eBlood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America\u003c\/i\u003e, and is translator of \u003ci\u003eWhen We Leave Each Other: Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e by the Danish writer Henrik Nordbrandt. His honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, a Pushcart Prize, and the Lyric Poetry Award from the Poetry Society of America. Phillips lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches at Drew University.\u003cb\u003eElegy for a Broken Machine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy father was trying\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto fix something\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand I sat there just watching,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elike I used to,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhenever something\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewent wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI kept asking where he’d been,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003euntil he put down a wrench\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand said Listen:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003edying’s just something\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat happens sometimes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWho knows\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhere that kind of dream comes from?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy some things\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003evanish, and some\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ejust keep going forever?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLike that look on his face\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhen he’d stare off at something\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI could never make out\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein the murky garage,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehis ear pressed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto whatever it was\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethat had died—\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehis eyes listening for something\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso deep inside it, I thought\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eeven the silence,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eif you listened,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emeant something.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e*****\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eOld Love\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou, lovely beyond\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e all lovely, who\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI’ve loved since I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efirst looked into\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eyour blue \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebeyond blue eyes,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eare no longer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eanywhere on earth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethe girl these words\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ecall out to,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethough never, since,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ehave I not been\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ea darkening wood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eshe walks through. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***** \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Guitar\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt came with those scratches\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003efrom all their belt buckles,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003epalm-dark with their sweat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003elike the stock of a gun:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ean arc of pickmarks cut\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eclear through the lacquer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhere all the players before me\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eonce strummed—once\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethumbed these same latches\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewhere it sleeps in green velvet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce sang, as I sing, the old songs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere’s no end, there’s no end\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eto this world, everlasting.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe crumble to dust in its arms.","brand":"Knopf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302382031077,"sku":"NP9780804172943","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780804172943.jpg?v=1767726140","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/elegy-for-a-broken-machine-isbn-9780804172943","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}