{"product_id":"the-goo-stage-a-collection-of-haibun-haiku-and-poems-9798279349395","title":"The Goo Stage: a collection of haibun, haiku, and poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): D. L. Baratta\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Subjects \u0026amp; Themes - Death, Grief, Loss\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat if you're not broken-you're transforming?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInside the chrysalis, the caterpillar doesn't gradually grow wings-it dissolves completely into an undifferentiated cellular soup. Only after complete liquefaction occurs can reorganization occur. Only after the old structure has entirely broken down can the new structure form.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWelcome to the goo stage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHIS FEELING IS SPREADING\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe career that once defined you now feels like a performance\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eRetirement brought formlessness instead of freedom\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYour expertise is being automated\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eDecades-old goals suddenly seem arbitrary\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou go through the motions, but some essential engine has cut out\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe standard response: see a therapist, get back on track. \u003cb\u003eBut what if there is no track anymore?\u003c\/b\u003e What if this loss of interest isn't personal failure but a signal that something fundamental has changed?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePOETRY FROM INSIDE THE TRANSFORMATION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Goo Stage\u003c\/i\u003e captures the messy middle of transformation-when you're neither caterpillar nor butterfly. Through poems, haiku, and haibun (a Japanese form that pairs prose with compressed imagery), this collection explores dissolution without rushing to resolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten in the conversational tradition of \u003cb\u003eBilly Collins and Mary Oliver\u003c\/b\u003e, these poems require no expertise. The language is clear, grounded in concrete observation, yet it engages seriously with Stoicism, Buddhism, and contemplative traditions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWHAT THIS BOOK WON'T DO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is \u003cb\u003enot\u003c\/b\u003e self-help. There are no action steps, journaling prompts, or promises of transformation in 30 days. This is a book written from inside the goo. It doesn't claim to have emerged with wisdom to share.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt offers something more valuable: \u003cb\u003ecompanionship in uncertainty, validation that dissolution might be necessary rather than failure, and permission to inhabit the not-knowing rather than rushing past it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHONEST ABOUT DIFFICULTY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese poems don't flinch. \"Inheritance: Four Days in October\" examines eldercare and mortality directly. \"The Arithmetic of Alone\" explores isolation without sugarcoating it. The economic poems acknowledge that the math no longer works.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you need comfort now, this may not be the right book. But if you need validation that dissolution is real and shared-that sitting in the goo might be the bravest thing you can do-these poems will find you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIDEAL FOR READERS WHO: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e✓ Are approaching, in, or recently through retirement ✓ Have experienced career disruption or sense the game has changed ✓ Are experiencing dissolution of old identities without clear new ones forming ✓ Are drawn to Stoic philosophy, Buddhist psychology, or contemplative traditions ✓ Want poetry that's accessible without being simplistic ✓ Appreciate honest exploration over false resolution\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFROM THE AUTHOR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"I'm still in it. Still in the goo. These poems aren't written from the wisdom of arrival but from the honesty of being in the middle of the process. We're in a liminal moment-personally and collectively. The old structures are dissolving. New ones haven't formed. May we be patient with our own becoming.\" - \u003cb\u003eD.L. Baratta\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou're not broken. You're not alone. You're transforming.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Independently Published","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47572879278231,"sku":"9798279349395","price":1259.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9798279349395.webp?v=1774891365","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/the-goo-stage-a-collection-of-haibun-haiku-and-poems-9798279349395","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}