Sondra Melzer's poems reflect a lifetime of surviving and thriving. She plumbs her memory to write of a family plagued by alcoholism and held together by a mother's strength. She writes deeply about losses - a child in infancy, an adult son. Other poems tell of her long and happy marriage, a daughter who brings laughter and joy, and the rewards of a decades-long teaching career. This suite of poems, full of passion and intensity, go straight to the reader's heart.