Collectively, these poems analyze human relationships with their natural and artificial surroundings. Through these relationships I approach the themes of aging and loss while questioning the roles of both parent and child. "Sunrise Bargains" follows a waitress in a cheap diner. The moods and settings of this poem and "Breakfast at Chevron" are similar. The second poem focuses more on the consumers, questioning the meaning of one parent's relationship to a child as it is illustrated through the setting of an early morning gas station. "Winter and Road Construction" is a prose poem in the first person detailing a struggle against both the natural and artificial worlds. In "Old Oak Tree" the human battle against nature becomes more violent. In this poem, one man's relationship with nature is juxtaposed against his relationship to his fellow man, particularly his father. Importantly, all of these poems are set in Idaho, specifically in Ada county. While I do think it is possible for all of these situations to exist separately in other areas, together they form a unique constellation of people and ideas that represents Idaho. These poems question our relationships as humans, but they do not offer any answers.

As Seen In Idaho