Jody Serey’s topics are real life, occasionally raw, and expressed in language devoid of flowery phrasing. Each poem is a sketch instead of a Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The title of this book is Sweeping Glass, and reflects a skill passed onto me by my mother. Some time back, my professor looked over my then-collection and said, “There is a lot of sex and death in your stuff.” I answered, “There is a lot of sex and death in life.”