Here is Americana at its best--the WWII years. America is doggedly hanging on, awaiting the return of her heroes, knowing there will be parades for some and processions for others. The author, an accomplished rhetoric instructor, lived these poignant years and is in early sync with the reader through interesting insights into each poem. He takes the reader on a heartfelt, personal tour of small-town America, using real people coupled with poetic imagination. The Poignant Years is historically accurate, but, more importantly, it reveals what lies beneath major historical events. This is where people live--where they laugh and cry, where they struggle and sympathize, where they huddle together for warmth when fear is rife. For small town America, it was a slower time--a time of deep relationships where the ritual of life was sharing. It was a time of paucity--dealing with harsh winters in clapboard houses, but a time of morality when locks were not needed for security. Hear the voices of the school children who fear Hitler's bomb; laugh at the awkward expressions of the newly pubescent boy, and empathize with the tender murmurings of the Gold Star Mother. These are the voices of the admirable Americans who could only ""stand and wait."" ""The vivid poems and stories in this book provoked my remembrances--as one born in the 30s--of playing outside until dark, and buying victory stamps at school to help with the war effort. Also, it was a time of rationing sugar, gasoline, tires, and butter--everyday things we now take for granted. Those who did not experience these things will gain insight into this simpler, historical period. I heartily recommend The Poignant Years."" --C. Henry Gold, Professor Emeritus, Southeastern Oklahoma State University ""The Poignant Years is a warm account of growing up during and after WWII . . . of a time when family, perseverance, and a reliance on friends, neighbors, and most importantly, God, enabled people to get past the financial hardship and wartime sacrifices. But the quiet honoring of the often unspoken heroes of WWII--the grandparents, parents, sons, and daughters who seldom knew where their loved ones were--is especially touching for an old warrior like me."" --Mark I. Ackerson, Lt. Col., USAF, Retired ""These poems don't just recount the past; they re-inhabit it. With one foot in the literary tradition and one foot in folk art, Robinson recounts neighborhood bike rides, elder relatives, and, eventually, the native son's return home. The WWII years are lovingly revisited in these pages. Maybe 'you can't go home again,' but Skip Robinson's imagination can take you a good distance along the way."" --Benjamin Myers, Oklahoma Poet Laureate; Author Horace (Skip) Robinson is the Director of the Center for Rhetoric and Professional Development at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma. He is the author of Bloomfield, An American Novel (1987) and Proper Form, Pure and Simple (2012).