Collapsing into Possibility

In these tightly crafted poems, Jerry Bradley measures his life and discovers cause for both rejoicing and tears. Finding wonder in unexpected and unlikely places – a funny sign on a sewage truck, a work detail in Louisiana, the act of gutting a fish – he pulls metaphoric rabbits out of hats to transform the ordinary into the remarkable. A sense of urgency underlies Bradley’s surface wit as he confronts the implacable realities of aging, time, and mortality. Whether he’s assessing the ravages of Hurricane Harvey, Paul McCartney’s guitar, Robert Frost’s elegance, or the fallout from love lost and found, Bradley brings to the page an ultimate honesty that will leave his readers on their feet cheering Author! Author! Honor is due.

Carol Reposa, 2018 Texas Poet Laureate, author of Underground Musicians

Truly a stunning book. Bradley risks wading into the disastrous flooding of Hurricane Harvey described as fickle as a two-dollar knife, and the result is that the reader floats off on his humor. The book is a rare achievement wedding the deep hurt of disaster with our ability to cobble together a vision in a bar where Even the barmaid is as fresh as a fossil. He brings to us the vitality to get up the next day for a drink or to keep swimming. Bradley’s easy wit is offered with intelligence and insight into the human condition: what counts most is what we learn / after we already know everything else.

Walter Bargen, first Poet Laureate of Missouri, author of Until Next Time