-Francesca Bell, author of In Richard Newman takes us around the globe and deep inside the human heart. With the memory of an exile, he connects the past and present in surprising ways, weaving personal narratives into lush landscapes that capture the flavor and tang of living in new places. Newman navigates between "unhappiness or hope," with humor and humility, erasing borders as he's crossing them-not a tourist, not a native, he is our ideal guide. -Jim Daniels, author of and Richard Newman leaves home to find a home, but home becomes a continual journey and exploration of self and love that "take[s] root. . . /and thrives like madness." These well-crafted poems show how rich and full life can be where the sea "slaps itself awake" and a "rainstorm has a soul." It's a time of waking to barking wild dogs, sharing donuts with students where having a donut is "a lottery/we only savor if we're lucky." It's a journey of falling in love all over, getting married, fathering a son, and leaving one country for another-and another-and another, with "no escape from war, /the horror veined through worlds hidden." These poems, studded with a variety of styles and forms, make us all want to join the journey. They resonate. -Maryfrances Wagner, 6th Missouri Poet Laureate