Lunchboxes (Paperback or Softback)

Lunchboxes, by Dan Veach, preserves in the amber of poetry a classic 1950s Southern California childhood, complete with Superman capes, coonskin caps, cap pistols, and lunchboxes which, like this book, contain both baloney and Wonder bread. Deep background comes from the backwoods of Tennessee, where Grandpa makes a Nobel Prize discovery, and the kids get a snootfull of Aunt Ruth's snuff. Going farther back still, "A Date with Clio," the muse of history, breezes through a million years of human misadventures. Baloney is sandwiched in the "Scherzo" section--the movement Beethoven reserved for musical jokes. And finally, for those who missed out on Dan's previous book, this lunchbox contains a cool thermos of Elephant Water.

Lunchboxes invites the reader to open its lid and discover something rare these days: a truly joyous collection of poetry. Full of sharp recollections and generous wit, they range from the profound and poignant to delightfully funny and clever. Wonderfully accessible, deftly marrying magic to form, this "lunch" is a pleasure to read and savor.

--Joan Colby, author of Ribcage and Selected Poems

This expansive collection stretches from the present day all the way back to the holy isle of Lindisfarne, where a mysterious Anglo-Saxon monk leaves behind a "foolish, idle work" called Beowulf. Veach continually treats the reader to stories and imagery rich in wonderful detail, threaded with humor and surprise.

--Andrea Potos, author of A Stone to Carry Home and Arrows of Light

In Lunchboxes Dan Veach offers us the eyes and ears of a real poet. These stunning poems provide a fresh look at our everyday lives and the joys of memory. Even where there are no final answers, without fail they lead us to ask the right questions.

--David Bottoms, author of Otherworld, Underworld, Prayer Porch

I love the ease of reminiscence, depictions of our shared common ground in Gardena, CA--that town of strawberry fields, dairies, and flower farms transformed into a postwar, multi-ethnic suburb. Innocence and geniality abound here, and they abide with a timeless cache of peaches, Hostess Twinkies, and cartons of milk in lunchboxes blazoned with images of television cowboy and Disney frontier heroes by a paradisal imagination.

--Garrett Hongo, author of Coral Road