"I love the primal quality of these poems, many of which remind me of the so-called “death poems” of the Japanese and Chinese poet-monks of old in that, despite their weighty subject matter, they often resound with a courageous, startling playfulness. These poems deftly navigate the waters of nostalgia and tenderness without giving way to sentimentality, and in that way, serve as a reminder that ache—like a scar—only broadens with age."

                            —Michael Meyerhofer, author of Leaving Iowa, Damnatio Memoriae, and  Blue Collar Eulogies. 

I always feel like a tenpin at the far end of a bowling alley when I start reading one of Ron Self’s poems.  Something big is coming. I don’t yet know what it is, but there’s an ominous rolling sound far away, barely discernible to my flat little wooden ears just below my red stripe. Then I see it. Bigger and bigger until its mass and sound knock me over. The meaning sinks in, and I spin helplessly on the blonde oak flooring.

                             —John Ottley, Jr., author of The Seventh Deadliest Fear

Paperback: 140 pages

Publisher: Brick Road Poetry Press (October 29, 2013)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0983530483

ISBN-13: 978-0983530480

Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches

Shipping Weight: 9.4 ounces