Various (Cunningham, Gail Harano (Editor); Ferlinghetti, Lawrence; Atwood, Margaret; Cohen, Leonard; McClure, Michael; Oates, Joyce Carol; Plath, Sylvia; Schorre, Charles; Sexton, Anne; Snyder, Gary; Updike, John et al.)

Parachutes Could Carry Us Higher: Poems About Today

ISBN: 0875291767
Kansas City, Missouri: Hallmark, 1971. First Edition, First Printing. Hardcover. From the collection of Lawrence Ferlinghetti with gift inscription. "The poem "Parachutes, My Love, Could Carry Us Higher" by Barbara Guest is a poignant exploration of themes such as uncertainty, intimacy, and the delicate balance between safety and risk. The poem opens with a candid admission of not knowing, setting a tone of vulnerability and tenderness. The repeated line "Parachutes, my love, could carry us higher" serves as both a refrain and a metaphor for escape and elevation. Guest introduces an image of floating around a net, with "Pink and pale blue fish" caught in it, symbolizing the entrapments and limitations in life. The poem continues to juxtapose the imagery of swimming and floating with the idea of being suspended in mid-air, evoking a sense of being caught between states, neither fully secure nor entirely free. The speaker's admission of "I do not know" reinforces the theme of uncertainty and the complexity of their situation. The poem's imagery of coral and pomegranates beneath the surface suggests a hidden richness and fertility, while the bubbles rising and salt drying on the lashes symbolize the tension between the familiar and the surreal. Guest's ability to use poetry as a way of cutting into and creating something that is sensual and moves outside the bounds of the time-space continuum is what draws readers to her work." (description of poem, Academy of American Poets). "Parachutes Could Carry Us Higher: Poems About Today" is the title and featured poem (pg. 46) in this collection of poems, showcasing many writing titans from our time. Joyce Carrol Oates (b. 1938) the iconic American author of the Pulitzer Prize winner "Now In November" poeticizes the American city in "American City" (pg. 5). Pulitzer Prize in Poetry winner and Beat Generation acolyte Gary Snyder waxes eloquent in "Above Pate Valley" (pg. 10). Confessional Poetry icon Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) elucidates us with mushrooms in "Mushrooms" (pg. 20). "Hallelujah" composer Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) lyricizes forms of water in "Go by Brooks" (pg. 51). Master of the feminine dystopia Margaret Atwood (b. 1939) mysticizes the zodiac in "The Creatures of the Zodiac" (pg. 38). Pulitzer Prize winning feminism icon Anne Sexton (1928-1974) gets serious about certain medical procedures in "The Abortion" (pgs. 40-41). "San Francisco Six Gallery" reader Michael McClure describes a lover in "Cupid's Grin" (pg. 48). Style icon and American literary hero John Updike (1932-2009) espouses one of the joys of fatherhood in "Sonic Boom" (pg. 52). Revered author and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021) entices his lover with "Come Lie with Me and be My Love" (pg. 39). Overwhelming in the context of all the major literay icons, but a quick and meaningful read. From the library of the late, great Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the iconic American poet & founder of City Lights Book, publisher of many Beat Generation writers. At half-title page hand-written in black ink is a gift inscription that reads: "Sept. 30 2005 | A book for you, | from long ago | Love, | Annette". Hardcover: First edition, presumed first printing though not explicated as such at copyright page. Dust Jacket not present. A rich & rewarding collectible featuring some of the best writers of our time in its rarest original form thus & with the distinguished provenance of one of its most important contributors. In relatively very-fine condition with very mild rubbing and creasing mostly at edges and corners of front, back covers and spine; mild age-toning and bumping to text block. Interior very-fine with slight age-toning mostly to margins of page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #7754]

Price: $65.00