Book Description

A Poetry Book of immense suavity and demeanor."Beverly Finney's Bearing Witness shouts to be read by women and men of all ages, especially men who have not lived relationships with hope and stability. Presented in realistic monologues, the poems pour out tales of grief and endurance - survival.See 'In My Dreams': the speaker pushes the week's laundry in the washing machine and puts some 'beans on to cook for dinner.' In 'Twist of Fate' the down-and-out woman tries 'to accept a sifting of confetti, yearning for something like fireworks.' Loneliness reigns supreme: 'Failed Therapy' ends, 'It's a dead horse we're beating now.' As 'Master Craftsman' says, 'And this trowel? It's broke right here, but I done fixed it all I can.' This tool-user speaks for all the talkers in Bearing Witness, a 'spoken' telling, precise as dry sparks."---Shelby Stephenson, author of numerous books of poetry, most recently Paul's Hill: Homage to Whitman and Our World. He was Poet Laureate of North Carolina, 2015-2018. "If you've ever overheard a conversation in the doctor's office, imagined the life story of someone you've seen at the grocery store, or been the recipient of a stranger's confidences, you'll recognize the people in Beverly Finney's poems: funny, bawdy, burdened, enduring, reflective, stubborn people. Finney truly sees the people in her poems, and she writes of them with compassion and clarity, in well-made poems that feel fresh and alive."---Jennifer Horne's most recent book of poems is Borrowed Light. She is also the author of two other collections, Bottle Tree and Little Wanderer, and Tell the World You're a Wildflower, a collection of short stories. She is Poet Laureate of Alabama, 2017-2021