{"product_id":"our-life-before-mars-paperback","title":"Our Life Before Mars - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRenee de la Roche-Zhu\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOur Life Before Mars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a poetic meditation on the intimate bond between place and self - how cities shape us, and how we carry them long after we leave. Written across six years and six cities - New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Boston, and other transient spaces - these poems explore the emotional and philosophical weight of geography where place becomes both setting and character. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTracing themes of grief and inheritance, ambition and identity, love and loss, this collection moves fluidly through time and memory - asking: What does it mean to live meaningfully? To choose stillness over escape? To grow older without growing apathetic? To wrestle with freedom, home, and the self perpetually in flux? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese poems offer glimpses into that search - e.g., \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn vulnerability: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eExcept what I really want to say is I am afraid \/ That the big-eared boy on the 2nd floor will not make friends that last \/ A lifetime. That the French florist on the corner will no longer carry \/ Birds of paradise. That the wildfires of California \/ Will rage again this fall \/ That tomorrow you'd die on the way \/ To the grocery store\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eAct of Survival\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn grief: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eStanding at your eulogy, with terrors in my stomach I'm \/ Unable to name, I thought about those who buy groceries \/ On Friday nights. Those making tea in the quiet morning \/ Light of their kitchen. Those who you'd laugh at, who guard \/ Their lives with a vortex at the core. Those not unlike me\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eAtonement\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn loss: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI, too, battled with the fear of happiness, the age we learned to be bystanders \/ To the advent of the morning - how it wears the war on its \/ Shirt sleeves. How it eats glass for breakfast.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eThree Lives\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn self-authorship: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eI looked at the flood \/ In this world, standing in the way of the good life. And I \/ Thought about how I want to rule over \/ My flood. My chaos. I took the flowers from her hand, and told her, \/ I want to be the King\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eOur Metamodernity\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn aging: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDirections perplex me, so I keep pacing \/ Until I reach the crest of my clavicle bones. Until I am near \/ The opening and closing of my heart. I knock on it - like \/ Onlookers near a church. For I know, this, too \/ Is the war\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eThirties\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn love: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou'll eat a hamburger, in fact, which you hate. You'll keep \/ On eating it, like how you'll keep on loving \/ Me. And I'll tell you it's ok if I don't \/ Get free, this time - and talk to \/ Your mother\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ci\u003eYou'll Eat a Hamburger, In Fact\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt once intimate and expansive, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOur Life Before Mars\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is a map of a modern woman's emotional terrain - where the ordinary and the epic unfold quietly side by side. It is a reflection on \u003ci\u003ebecoming\u003c\/i\u003e, just before the next great transformation.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 132\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.31 x 8 x 5.25 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 01, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46227394920583,"sku":"9798218667528","price":20.18,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/OFf-FVLyy_9798218667528.webp?v=1792317021","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/our-life-before-mars-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}