Birkelbach writes of the Texas landscape and its people with conversational ease, making his vivid descriptions shimmer through each poem. He balances the ordinary and the phenomenal, the factual and the suppositional, the temporal and the eternal in poems remarkable for their depth of insight. As Billy Bob Hill writes in his introduction to the volume, "Birkelbach can disguise a mosaic of word music in plain sight hidden in conversational English.

What are Smurglets? Why, Smurglets are little creatures that make friends instantly, enjoy dressing up--and love to hide Where do you find Smurglets? They're everywhere
Every page of this fun-filled poetry book is bursting with delight for kids and adults alike. Texas Poet Laureate Alan Birkelbach tells you not only where Smurglets come from, but using captivating rhythms, goofy rhymes, and wonderfully made-up words he tells readers from ages 5 to 50 why Ogres Hate Okra, about what happens when Blob Junior Goes to Camp, and the dire consequences of losing your Galoopa It's all wild and...

"Rogue Waves" examines those moments that are like their namesake, events that occur unexpectedly, that cannot possibly be real, that have disproportionate impact, and just as quickly are over. This book is all about " . . . the keystone that dislodges, the chain that breaks . . . ." The implicit question is always, "What happens when our pathway changes all of a sudden?" We find new ways to help us cope, accepting the paradox of a new reality, sometimes only checking to see what parts still work and then moving forward. "Rogue Waves" is about the abrupt shifts in our paradigms and...

Karla K. Morton's photographs are as sharp-edged as some of the tree branches and animal bones they depict. They are carefully composed and at the same time luminous. Her country buildings convey a touching nostalgia. And many of her landscapes capture the elegance and nobility of the natural world. Each of Alan Birkelbach's poems takes its cue from a Morton picture, stays true to the subject, then quickly-magically-moves into its own terrain, a region where image turns into memory and meditation. This combination of photograph-and-poem is highly satisfying. The two art forms are a perfect...

Presents a sweeping saga of the American West and John G. Neihardt's exhilarating vision of frontier history. It is infused with wonder, nostalgia, and a keen appreciation of epic history. Unquestionably the masterpiece of the poet who has been called the ""American Homer", A Cycle of the West celebrates the land and legends of the Old West in five narrative poems.