{"product_id":"snakedoctor","title":"Snakedoctor","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom church barn to apple orchard, from snow-covered pasture to secret moonshine cabin, Manning's \u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor \u003c\/i\u003ereinvigorates the Kentucky pastoral through poems that find light in shadow, good in evil, love in a father's stinging blow.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaurice Manning returns to the Kentucky countryside in his eighth collection, \u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e. Existing between haunting memory and pastoral dreamscape, this quiet collection showcases Manning's storytelling at its finest. Simple, four-beat lines hold epiphanies--\"the barn is just an empty church\"-- and announce visits from seven-foot strangers named Mr. True. Here, God is reimagined as a \"serious banjo player\" who calls the world to sing. And sing Manning does. Through rhyme, blues, and haiku, \u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e trains our ears to hear music in the mundane, to find beauty all around us: in the annotated margins of a well-read book, the flight of a father's shadow puppet, the yellow centers of daisies. Punctuated by rain's pitter-patter on a tin wash tub, and the \"ring of lonely\" in a farmer's voice as he calls his cattle home, \u003ci\u003eSnakedoctor\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection that will leave you wanting to dog-ear its pages. From childhood to fatherhood, church barn to apple orchard, moonshine to moonbeam, we leave these poems understanding Manning's wish: \"I wanted to make a prayer and I did, \/ in half-sleep after the dream.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maurice Manning","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44816588701738,"sku":"9781556596988","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/snakedoctor-8437076.jpg?v=1789040466","url":"https:\/\/thepoetryshop.com\/products\/snakedoctor","provider":"The Poetry Shop LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}