{"product_id":"9780917788215","title":"Groundwork","description":"\u003cb\u003ePublished in 1979 by Gnomon Press\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eGroundwork\u003c\/i\u003e, Robert Morgan offers a vivid poetic excavation of Appalachian life, memory, and landscape. Drawing deeply from his upbringing in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Morgan crafts a collection that is both intimate and elemental. These poems explore the textures of rural existence—its labor, rituals, and natural rhythms—through language that is spare, musical, and richly evocative.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMorgan’s verse is rooted in place, yet it transcends regionalism through its mythic resonance and emotional clarity. He sifts through family lore, childhood recollections, and local history to recover what he calls “pieces of the morgenland”—a personal and cultural terrain shaped by hardship, resilience, and wonder. The poems in \u003ci\u003eGroundwork\u003c\/i\u003e are populated by grandparents, farmers, and mountain folk, rendered with a quiet reverence that elevates the everyday to the numinous.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection marks a foundational moment in Morgan’s career, establishing the poetic voice that would inform his later fiction and nonfiction. With titles like “Mountain Bride,” “Burning the Hornet’s Nest,” and “Baptism of Fire,” the poems evoke both the physical and spiritual dimensions of Appalachian life. \u003ci\u003eGroundwork\u003c\/i\u003e remains one of Morgan’s most concentrated and enduring tributes to the Southern mountains and their people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEssential for readers of American poetry, Appalachian studies, and environmental literature, \u003ci\u003eGroundwork\u003c\/i\u003e is a lyrical testament to the power of memory and place.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ohio University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47695401976049,"sku":"9780917788215","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9780917788215_p0.jpg?v=1768834386","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780917788215","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}