"These poems are as poignantly felt as they are skillfully made. I hope they will find many readers."--James Merrill "Reading Aid and Comfort, I was reminded of John Gardner's description of the true artist as one who, in the face of death, invents prayers and weapons. Greg Johnson has turned his extraordinary gifts to that task, fashioning a work of power and courage--prayers that are direct and plainly spoken, yet sing; weapons that flash in the late sunlight."--Judson Mitcham Though this collection deals with a range of disturbing issues--the AIDS epidemic, aging, suicide, psychological aberration, and the violence of contemporary America--it is rich with the "aid and comfort" of compassion, truth, and a language of survival. Immersed in the shared experience of sorrow, the poems rise above mere confessions of grief to speak in a voice of dignity and hard-earned wisdom. Greg Johnson, associate professor of English at Kennesaw State College, is the author of the novel Pagan Babies (1993) and two short story collections, Distant Friends (1990), for which he was named Georgia Author of the Year, and A Friendly Deceit (1992). He has won prizes from the Academy of American Poets and the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project competition; his short fiction has been included in Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards and New Stories from the South: The Year's Best. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. University of Central Florida Contemporary Poetry Series