Published just four months before his death, this volume demonstrates [a:Tony Hoagland|78570|Tony Hoagland|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1408734157p2/78570.jpg]'s satire, his humor, and even his hope:

"My heroes are the ones who don’t say much.
They don’t hug people they just met.
They don’t play louder when confused.
They use plain language even when they listen."

"Wisdom doesn’t come to every Californian.
Chances are I too will die with difficulty in the dark."

Or from “Which Would You Prefer, A Story or an Explanation?”
“I can’t tell the difference between inner peace and mild depression, / writes her friend from Philadelphia, in small blue script / on the back of a postcard of Chagall.”

and my favorite, “Hope:”
“I didn’t belong in the Twenty-First Century. / I didn’t belong anywhere anymore. / I sat in my old-fashioned kitchen / staring at the green Formica counter. / That’s when the butterfly floated through the window, / and landed on the artificial flower.” ( )

I just discovered another poet, that speaks to me. ( )