What the Dust Doesn't Know

Richard Schiffman's first full length collection of poetry, What the Dust Doesn't Know, examines our human place in a natural world, which is at once earthily familiar and stranger than we can possibly know. The author takes the reader on a provocative romp through a universe in which dogs preach theology, dragonflies are crucified, and birds offer critiques of modern life. Underlying the playful humor is a spiritual seriousness which perceives mystery and meaning lurking in experiences that are routinely undervalued. Through Schiffman's unconventional lens, pain becomes a gateway to illumination, imperfection is "heaven's backdoor," a grey day tells human beings to shine, and hope is "the present-- unlearning the past, agnostic of the future - breathing, in its chains, like the sea." This is a book for those who believe that poetry should both delight and inspire its readers with a larger sense of life's meaning and possibilities. Schiffman lives in New York City.