In this Book

summary
Rowing Inland, Jim Daniels's fifteenth book of poetry is a time machine that takes the reader back to the Metro Detroit of his youth and then accelerates toward the future. With humor and empathy, the author looks at his own family's challenges and those of the surrounding community where the legacy handed down from generation to generation is one of survival. The economic hits that this community has to endure create both an uncertainty about its future and a determined tenacity. Divided into four sections, Rowing Inland calls out key moments from the author's life. The events that inspire many of these poems took place a long time ago and often it has taken the poet his entire life to write about those experiences and write about them with the necessary emotional distance. For example, some of the poems in the section "Late Invocation for Magic" reference the first girl he ever kissed and her accidental death by fire. In the last section of the book, Daniels approaches the current political and social standings in Detroit with lines like, "The distance to Baghdad or Kandahar / is measured in rowboat coffins / while here in the fatty palm of The Mitten / minor skirmishes electrify tedium." Although it focuses on Detroit's metropolitan area, the book can be considered a snapshot of working-class life anywhere across the country. Daniels casts his lens on a way of life that is often distorted or ignored by the powers that be. He zooms in on street level where all the houses may look alike but each holds its own secrets and dreams. To paraphrase novelist and screenwriter Richard Price, Detroit is the "zip code for [Daniels's] heart"-a place that his writing will always come back to. Readers of contemporary poetry with a regional persuasion will enjoy this collection.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-x
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xi-xii
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  1. Customs
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. 1. Rowing Inland
  1. Home Improvement
  2. pp. 3-4
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  1. Rowing Inland
  2. pp. 5-8
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  1. Swiss Steak
  2. pp. 9-10
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  1. Wishbone
  2. p. 11
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  1. Talking by the Fence
  2. pp. 12-13
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  1. Three Sonnets: Cutting My Grandfather's Grass
  2. pp. 14-15
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  1. Beware of (My Grandfather's Fake) Dog
  2. p. 16
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  1. Prayer Above the Washer
  2. p. 17
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  1. My Mother Recalls the Miracle of the Loaf (No Fish)
  2. pp. 18-19
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  1. Photo of My Grandparents Working Their Lunch Wagon at the Gates of Dodge Main
  2. p. 20
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  1. Family Relics: The Suicide Policeman's Blackjack
  2. pp. 21-23
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  1. Second Shift Closed the Bar
  2. pp. 24-25
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  1. Reading Dante's Inferno on Break at Ford's
  2. p. 26
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  1. Laughing from Here
  2. p. 27
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  1. Room Divider
  2. p. 28
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  1. Hard Candy
  2. pp. 29-30
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  1. Last Meals
  2. pp. 31-32
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  1. 2. Welcome to Warren
  1. I. The Exploding Cigar Tour
  2. pp. 35-36
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  1. II. Around the Block
  2. pp. 37-39
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  1. III. Hidden Beauty
  2. pp. 40-44
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  1. IV. Legendary Parks
  2. pp. 45-47
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  1. V. The Heavy Stuff
  2. pp. 48-50
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  1. VI. The End of Childhood
  2. pp. 51-52
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  1. 3. Late Invocation for Magic
  1. Late Invocation for Magic
  2. pp. 55-58
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  1. Weeding Out the Weak
  2. p. 59
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  1. Letter to Andy
  2. pp. 60-63
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  1. The Monkees, 1968
  2. pp. 64-65
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  1. "School's Out," Alice Cooper, 1972
  2. pp. 66-67
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  1. Infamous
  2. pp. 68-69
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  1. The Unpregnant Pause
  2. pp. 70-72
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  1. Calling Out Marlene Miller
  2. pp. 73-74
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  1. Dead Girl
  2. p. 75
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  1. Homemade Prom Dress
  2. pp. 76-78
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  1. FOE: Forwarding Order Expired
  2. pp. 79-84
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  1. 4. Economic Fairy Tale
  1. Soft Side of the Moon
  2. pp. 87-89
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  1. Painting a Picture with Broken Crayons
  2. p. 90
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  1. Crayola Trailer Park Eight-Pack
  2. p. 91
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  1. The St. Vitus Dance of the Factory Floor
  2. pp. 92-93
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  1. Rouge Overpass
  2. p. 94
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  1. Easter Sunday at Hakim's Convenience
  2. pp. 95-96
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  1. Something Like a Sonnet for Something Like Peace
  2. p. 97
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  1. July 20 Fireworks During Ongoing Conflicts Abroad
  2. pp. 98-101
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  1. Quitting the Day Job in the Middle Ages
  2. pp. 102-103
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  1. A Game Called Rock
  2. p. 104
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  1. Christmas Dinner, 2008
  2. p. 105
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  1. Economic Fairy Tale: The Cement House
  2. p. 106
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  1. Fifth of July: The Morning After with Lady Liberty
  2. pp. 107-108
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  1. Summer Weight, Labor Day
  2. pp. 109-110
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  1. Crooked Teeth
  2. pp. 111-112
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  1. Homeless Arisen from Dead
  2. pp. 113-114
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  1. About the Author
  2. p. 115
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