In Which I Take Myself Hostage

I wrote this book in the aftermath of a hospital visit. My partner, Kim, and I had been living apart since I took a job in Iowa City, and she had come to visit. She had a headache, so she went to sleep early. I stayed in the other room and wrote nearly every poem in this collection deep into the night. Her presence, the proximity of me to her, gave me to courage and comfort to write what was too painful to write alone.