The Book of Men

The narrative poems in Dorianne Laux's fifth collection charge through the summer of love, where Vietnam casts a long shadow, and into the present day, where she compassionately paints the smoky bars, graffiti, and addiction of urban life. Laux is "continually engaging and, at her best, luminous" (San Diego Union-Tribune).

from "To Kiss Frank,"
     make out with him a bit, this
     is what my friend would like to do
     oh these too many dead summers later,
     and as much as I want to stroll with her
     into the poet's hazy fancy
     all I can see is O'Hara's long gone lips
     fallen free of the bone, slumbering
     beneath the grainy soil.