Stomp and Sing

Book excerpt: Jon Andersen's debut book of poems, Stomp and Sing, illuminates the concerns and aspirations of the new working-class generation. Andersen's image-studded lyrics about work, love, family and class struggle create a vivid narrative that traces the concerns and aspirations of young people facing the challenges of daily life in a turbulent century. These are clear, direct poems that take us from mountaintops to local cafes, from lumberyards to town sidewalks, and range in theme from the impact of racism to the consolation of nature. Postcard from Chimney Pond Climbed the talus around the pond last night-so many pebbles around a puddle from the views of Baxter Peak, but down here chunks of granite as big as the small house I grew up in, all jumbled, jutting out of cold, clear water and piled up towards the stars. Silent lightning split the sky far north. Scrambled as far up the rock throat as I safely could and then some. Slept beneath the cliffs. Had a dream of you so real that for a long time after waking up, it felt good to have seen you again.