{"product_id":"the-taste-of-the-earth","title":"The Taste of the Earth","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe poems in \u003cem\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/em\u003e weave together personal history with the complex cultural heritage of Hedy Habra's countries of origin. Steeped in memories, loss and longing, these poems invite the reader to revisit Egypt's mythical past and Lebanon's turmoil, recalling the intersecting roots of culture and language in an act of artistic recollection that bridges time and space. Through the lyrical power of the senses, Habra's poems bring to life scenes of strife and upheaval as well as profound joy. Such images linger in the mind and keep evolving in search for the permanence of beauty within suffering as they are evoked by trees, houses, fountains and familiar objects, each voice offering with its testimony a broader perspective on the interconnectedness of worlds and universality of emotions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAdditional Reviews\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003econtains numerous histories--from Egypt's distant past to the Lebanese Civil War to the Arab Spring--though history is not \"the straight line that accompanies silence.\" These poems confess that image can hide the smell of blood and the smell of jasmine, both the terrible and the sweet in the story of a place. Habra also teaches us that it is not just language and maps that tell history, but that objects carry what they have witnessed, the truths they are waiting to speak. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Traci Brimhall, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSaudade\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Diane Seuss, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eStill Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThese are a painter's poems, sensuous and filled with scenes under the surface. In her journey, Hedy Habra digs into the roots to find stories of wisdom. What's special about these stories is that, even though they are painful, their exotic flavor is of earth, which belongs to everyone. They wander through memory and, image by image, settle in the soul \"as sand in an hourglass.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Dunya Mikhail, author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eIn Her Feminine Sign\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYou may be sitting in your favorite chair at home when you begin to read Hedy Habra's latest collection of poems, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Taste of the Earth\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, but that's not where you'll be. You'll be in Damascus, Heliopolis, Beirut, Aleppo. Before you know it, as if dreaming, you'll be gliding along the streets of these cities, listening to their sounds, overhearing bits of conversation. Born in Egypt, Habra is part of the diaspora of Middle Easterners compelled to leave lands they love due to war and upheaval. There is longing for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003ehome\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in every sense of the word--for a place, a person, a taste, a story, a particular light, a language, a gesture, a laugh. It is this longing that makes these poems universal, regardless of where you are as you read them. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca data-encoded-attr-charset=\"dXRmLTg=\" data-encoded-tag-value=\"\" data-encoded-tag-name=\"meta\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e--Susan Azar Porterfield, winner of the Cider Press Review Editor's Prize for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eDirt, Root, Silk\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hedy Habra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44220798009386,"sku":"9781950413096","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/the-taste-of-the-earth-4913585.jpg?v=1775063784","url":"https:\/\/thepoetryshop.com\/products\/the-taste-of-the-earth","provider":"The Poetry Shop LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}