“These are poems so real, so close to the truth, that death becomes a living creature you can hold in your hand, a creature that dances inside your fingers.” (Taproot Reviews)

“Haunting, tragic poems of devastating beauty that deal with the author’s abusive father and her cherished mother who had to suffer the abuse. … A strong collection of poems that burn their images into your brain, I won’t soon forget the power of these heartfelt poems.” (Ralph Haselmann Jr.)

“Using lyric, hardworking language, Chmielarz deftly composes a tragic family, all too familiar in its war story of male wife battering, but unique—as all troubled families are unique … at once, an exhilarating vision of freedom and a crushing acknowledgment of fate. These spare, haunting poems echo in memory long after you put the book down.” (Jill Breckenridge)