This is a brutally realistic book of poetry. By immersing himself in the particular details of his most meaningful moments, John Amen transforms hurt into poems that are both imaginative and lyrically expressive. With metaphoric daring and off-beat grace, he guides us through haunting and sometimes violent memories of roving through America's southland. Includes the 260 line poem-sequence "Portraits of Mary", hailed by poet Jared Smith as "perhaps the most complex, intricate, and thoroughly honest love poem in all of contemporary poetry". A thoroughly human book of memorable poems of great intensity by one of our best younger poets.