Before Our Eyes

The rift between our public and private realms is where Joseph thrives . . . [His] socially aware poems . . . show a mind at work-at home with inconsistencies and wary of conclusions . . . These are idiosyncratic, off-kilter pieces, yet no less observant for being so. -Albert Mobilio, Voice Literary Supplement An ambitious, breakthrough collection . . . His juxtapositions and examinations of language are often dazzling, often beautiful . . . Joseph raises the right issues [and shows us] how to be morally instructed by the sensual world we see before our eyes. -Nancy Schoenberger, Verse The poems in Joseph's third collection undertake the challenge of presenting, if not resolving, the paradoxes of a modern world in which plenty coexists with poverty, peace with war, efficient technological communication with the lack of understanding between face-to-face individuals . . . The poems are products of a poet who truly believes that "By written I mean made, by made l mean felt." -Laurie Greer, Virginia Quarterly Review A beautiful book. The poems are so good they made me hurt down to the roots of my hair. This book is going to be a classic. Reading the poems, the way one sets up another-the total impact, each poem separately, the whole experience-is a challenge and an exquisite thrill. I'm going to tell everyone l know about it. -Thom Jones