Piece Work (Csu Poetry Series)
"One does not know which to admire more in this collection -- its fierce documentary honesty, or the perfect pitch of its imagined speakers. The two come together memorably in poem after poem, giving us a deep and abiding insight into industrial and post-industrial America. This, too, is part of poetry's task: to tell what happened, and why it still matters." --Jared Carter, Contest Judge"Charlie, the first-shift foreman at the textile mill, is proud to say, 'What I do means something in this world.' Other workers -- Tonisha, Sherry, Jimmy, Bill -- could say so too but probably won't. InPiece Work, one of the strongest, most truthful books of poetry I have ever read, Barbara Presnell says it for them, to them, with them, in lines of pure and heartfelt respect. Here are some words --courage,exhaustion,hope,despair,persistence,defiance, -- never spoken but always profoundly lived. In this fine poet's hands, they are more than words." --Fred Chappell