Thoughts from a Line at the DMV

Jim Landwehr’s Thoughts From a Line at the DMV opens its heart to us, and we smile, smile some more, and occasionally slap our legs and laugh out loud. But we’re not chuckling at Jim’s light humor, but at the sparkling joy just beneath the surface of our lives, where the things we sometimes take too seriously reside. Whether it’s the loud loudness of a 16-year-old boy, life as a bingo chip person, or notions of moving to Brazil to stop the noise your teeth are making, this book will fill your soul with joy.John L. Stanizzi, author of High Tide-Ebb Tide, Chants, Sundowning, and many other titles.

Many of Landwehr’s serious poems have a humorous side, and he sneaks some seriousness into the humorous ones while analyzing and poking some fun at parenting teens, reaching middle age, and the human condition. He is deft at alliteration and has mastered analogy. To wit: have you ever imagined the polar vortex as a slumlord with a drinking problem, or described someone’s voice as a blend of bagpipes, fireworks and a locomotive pile up. ?Well, Jim has. Read this book.

Ed Werstein, author of A Tar Pit to Dye In

Landwehr’s DMV serves as symbol of suburban setbacks and the often backward tilt of what we call progress. The speakers in these poems swallow their frustration. The poet gives them voice.

Margaret Rozga, Wisconsin Poet Laureate, 2019-2020 author of four books including, Pestiferous Questions: A Life in Poems.