Ear Rent

Ear Rent is a new book of poetry by the author and artist Robert Benefiel. The title is derived from suggesting the price one pays to get the attention of another, as well as having been used as a term to have one's ear cut off to pay back a debt. By titling this new collection of poetry Ear Rent he understands he is asking the reader to stop and listen to what he has to say, but that he is also paying off his debt to society by giving it back the poems it influences. Derived from no one style, the work can come from completely surreal vestiges, or from plain and ordinary circumstances. Whether looking at a rubber toy starring at him from the bottom of a bathtub, relaying a news article, or enjoying the beauty of a surreal moment of hickory trees being on fire, each poem represents just one of the many ways the author is responding to the world tapping on his shoulder and asking for the time.