The Orchard Street Press is very pleased to announce the publication of Grit & Grace the exciting new chapbook from poet Tobi Alfier of Torrance, California. This collection of twenty poems is truly well named because it artfully explores both the struggle and the dignity of lives lived out loud.

The poem “Winter Solstice Blues begins with:

Church bells roll over the night air
as freezing rain turns sudden snow,
hamstrings the streets, pulls a veil over
a moon already bleached out and weakened.

“A Town by the Sea in September” closes with:

You can almost sing her damaged beauty
as the hour of regret begins to peek
over the horizon. One more rose’ on the house,
a small kindness and thanks for September.
The sandy children chase lightning bugs
as their mothers shepherd them home.

About Grit & Grace, author Mathew Paust notes: “Alfier gives us the grit and grace of people making lives in humble stations, struggling for dignity or simple peace of mind combined with richly amazing artistry…lifting curtains that reveal entire sagas in the imagination…”

Gloria Mindock, editor of Cervena Barva Press, writes: “These incredible poems take us on a journey of lives lived; ‘strong fenceposts can/lose their grip on nails meant to stay…’ This truly is a chapbook everyone should read.”

Grit & Grace is available
(either by direct mail or via the web)
for $12 from: The Orchard Street Press;
P.O. Box 280; Gates Mills, Ohio 44040
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: orchpress.com
330-264-7733