Dedicated to the forgotten and taken for granted, Those Who Hold Up the Earth is Peter Crowley’s gift to the world of poetry. Tender, sweet, at times ironic and bitter, this collection demonstrates Crowley’s skill for noticing the little details of life-wizened falling leaves, a sick cat, down-and-out residents of a poor city with a new casino the rich cities didn’t want, missing car keys, and the waitress at a Papa Gino’s-and making them matter to readers as much as the big stuff: racism, unemployment, the terrifying, mysterious aging process, and death a return to an earth that vibrates at the seams with life. Indeed, this is what poets must do. Those Who Hold Up the Earth succeeds beautifully. Read it-there are so many wonderful moments here!Robin Stratton, Some Have Gone and Some Remain
An astonishing love note-a quietly gorgeous homage-to the little people (and even the little things). The ones we don’t often enough take the time to notice or appreciate. The ones who, in short, hold up the entire earth without expecting anything in return out of a solemn and tacit duty (though that’s not always the case in offerings like Worker, Beg Not and All for the best ). Is it to life, or is it to the hope of what it might be, were it not for the soul-crushing weight of wage labor? Regardless, the grit of the working class and the average person is highlighted with vindicating glory. Crowley’s all too resonant collection of poems seeks to re-train the eye on what’s truly important: the so-called commoner.
Genna Rivieccio, Editor-in-Chief of The Opiate magazine
Poet Peter Crowley breaks the poem wide open on the rock of his experience. Crowley: musician eco / historian / companion / world traveler / weary observer / scholar / lover of life … weaves history, her / story, earth / story, futility, and fury with the redemptive prayer flags of his questions. He treks through it all to find glimmers of a future, and for the reader, it doesn’t matter if he is lost or found, we are with him.
Take these poems home with you and find out more about Pete Crowley, and you, and poetry. It’s an exciting ride!
-Elizabeth McKim, The Red Thread
