Midway through James Cihlar s splendid "Rancho Nostalgia" you ll find some advice: Keep reaching into the past / to grab something new. One of the great wonders of this book full of wonders is that Cihlar follows his own instruction so brilliantly. Whether invoking scenes from classic movies or from the poet s own life, the results are poignant, complex, and full of bracing insights. These poems feel like they re being projected from a beguiling, not-quite-familiar place somewhere behind us, close to the border, where / the light is good.
Mark Bibbins

"James Cihlar s poems in...