{"product_id":"kissss","title":"Kissing the Face of the Grandfather Clock, by Sydney Sheltz-Kempf","description":"\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePoetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/collections\/bottlecap-features\" style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-style=\"color: #2b00ff;\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/collections\/bottlecap-features\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBottlecap Features\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eKissing the Face of the Grandfather Clock\u003c\/em\u003e engages the world in the concept of prospective grief: grief for families separated by physical and emotional boundaries, for friendships that simply drift apart, for the happy memories of childhood that fade so much faster than we want, for the time the world lost in the recent pandemic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eHugs with grandfathers that smell like Bananas Foster and wood shavings. Summer nights writhing to the beat of the tango and the curves of a crazy straw. Not realizing that it would be your last trip together to Chicago. (The resulting cavity after the depression and grief convinced you not to brush your teeth). Oceans of memory caressing your dreams and eroding the edges of what you want to remember the most. The moment you realize that you are out of time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e“This is what grief is: \/ walking the familiar paths \/ while memory bursts into bloom around you like spring, \/ something that we will call holy by origin \/ and something that feels like a gift \/ because you are not left with entirely empty hands” opens “Tripping Over Nothing” near the end of the chapbook. There is a journey through this collection that allows each reader to find the courage to press hard enough on the bruise of their grief of lost time to remember that they have healed from it, at least a little. The rawness of the beginning is soothed by the end into a throb of remembrance and appreciation for what was: some small closure with the closing of the book, by the gentle honorific action of \u003cem\u003eKissing the Face of the Grandfather Clock\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp align=\"justify\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cspan data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eSydney Sheltz-Kempf began writing poetry to cope with the stress of her PhD program. Previous work can be found in \u003cem\u003eIntima: Journal of Narrative Medicine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAtlas + Alice\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSonder Midwest\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eDying Dahlia Review\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eHilltop Review\u003c\/em\u003e and elsewhere. Previous chapbooks include \u003cem\u003eAdding Up Forever: A Memoir\u003c\/em\u003e (Poet’s Haven, 2018) and \u003cem\u003eAn Experiment Gone Wrong\u003c\/em\u003e (Audience Askew, forthcoming). Sydney Sheltz-Kempf is also an avid proponent for the role of poetry in the field of Narrative Medicine, and her talks can be viewed online at PhdSOS or STEAMid.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sydney Sheltz-Kempf","offers":[{"title":"Chapbook","offer_id":39871318818887,"sku":"KISSSS","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Digital Download (PDF)","offer_id":39871318851655,"sku":"KISSSSe","price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0062\/4420\/4614\/products\/clockcardstock.png?v=1673728604","url":"https:\/\/bottlecap.press\/products\/kissss","provider":"Bottlecap Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}