Bryner s grasp of the harsh demands and simple satisfactions of rural life make for truly compelling poetry. Her honest and well-crafted testimonies remind us oft from the gat it takes to get through life, the kind of quieter life in which many Americans still live and work, a life far removed from the more sensationally reality of sound bites and headlines. It is a privilege to have been let inside so many tender moments of everyday domesticity as are revealed in these finely measured poems. Marc Harshman, poet laureate of West Virginia / / With a good reporter s precision and a gifted poets empathy, Jeanne Bryner s latest book focuses on the epic of everyday life. Here, she recreates the story of her husband, her children, the roof and doors of her house, un unpredictably garden, and her farmer neighbor s crops and cattle. Both Shoes Off is a true gift from a wise and accomplished poet, straight from the good bones church of her remarkable life. Maggie Anderson, author of Windfall: New and Selected Poems