{"product_id":"what-the-body-told","title":"What the Body Told","description":"What the Body Told is the second book of poetry from Rafael Campo, a practicing physician, a gay Cuban American, and winner of the National Poetry Series 1993 Open Competition. Exploring the themes begun in his first book, The Other Man Was Me, Campo extends the search for identity into new realms of fantasy and physicality. He travels inwardly to the most intimate spaces of the imagination where sexuality and gender collide and where life crosses into death. Whether facing a frenetic hospital emergency room to assess a patient critically ill with AIDS, or breathing in the quiet of his mother’s closet, Campo proposes with these poems an alternative means of healing and exposes the extent to which words themselves may be the most vital working parts of our bodies. The secret truths in What the Body Told, as the title implies, are already within each of us; in these vivid and provocative poems, Rafael Campo gives them a voice.\nLost in the Hospital\nIt’s not that I don’t like the hospital.\nThose small bouquets of flowers, pert and brave.\nThe smell of antiseptic cleansers.\nThe ill, so wistful in their rooms, so true.\nMy friend, the one who’s dying, took me out\nTo where the patients go to smoke, IV’s\nAnd oxygen tanks attached to them—\nA tiny patio for skeletons. We shared\nA cigaratte, which was delicious but\nToo brief. I held his hand; it felt\nLike someone’s keys. How beautiful it was,\nThe sunlight pointing down at us, as if\nWe were important, full of life, unbound.\nI wandered for a moment where his ribs\nHad made a space for me, and there, beside\nThe thundering waterfall of is heart,\nI rubbed my eyes and thought “I’m lost.”\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0822317427\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0822317427.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Campo, Rafael\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41529393971258,"sku":"DBV.0822317427.G","price":8.29,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/0822317427-0.jpg?v=1784170643","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/what-the-body-told","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}