{"product_id":"empties-paperback","title":"Empties - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNeil Surkan\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes it is both river and sea \/ yes they mingle together here \/ yes one empties for the other \/ yes it tastes like tears \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a powerful interplay of striking descriptions with tender intimations, \u003ci\u003eEmpties\u003c\/i\u003e, Neil Surkan's third poetry collection, reckons with fatherhood in a depleted and collapsing environment: Is it possible to nurture new shoots while the fires close in? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFeelings of emptiness, acts of emptying, and physical empties coalesce in these vivid and timely poems. Through a queer lens, Surkan's speaker scrutinizes masculinity and fatherhood as he confronts the necessary emptiness that comes with becoming someone's ancestor. Arrays of drained and discarded entities - empty bottles, broken pots and cups - summon a world, husked and untenably extracted, that teeters toward collapse, but even those empty spaces are receptacles for fleeting moments of vulnerability and tenderness. At its core, \u003ci\u003eEmpties\u003c\/i\u003e explores the conditions of life on the verge of hopelessness. It finds, among shadows of doom and despair, unlikely but nonetheless inevitable reasons to hope. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese are poems that teach endurance \"in the face of all that won't \/ be saved\" while still finding much in the world \"to cherish \/ as it brinks.\" In direness, there is also awe: one mustn't forget, Surkan reminds us, that only empty bottles can sing.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeil Surkan is the author of two other books of poetry, \u003ci\u003eUnbecoming\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eOn High\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as the chapbooks\u003ci\u003e Die Workbook\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRuin\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTheir Queer Tenderness\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSuper, Natural\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the poet laureate of Nanaimo, BC.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 104\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 17, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48532658028793,"sku":"9780228027317","price":26.93,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/olaFHTCKZ99780228027317.webp?v=1781562442","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/empties-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}