The truth about small towns

Skilled at both extended narratives and intense, intimate lyrics, David Baker combines his talents in his fifth collection of poems. Working in syllabics, sonnets, couplets, and free verse, Baker can write unflinchingly about love, illness, madness, and perseverance. Regional in the best sense, Baker's poems capture the universal human commerce of love and conflict enduring under the water towers and storefronts of America's heartland.