These Trespasses

"The dancers, the writers, the hipsters, and the fighters. Jim Reese knows them all, trespassing into their lives with his good eyes and ears, giving each a gritty moment of worth. If you want poems smooth-tongued or surrealistic, don’t look here. But if you want folk as tough as cedars, rooted in work, sticking their noses into the wind, 'eye-squinting tight,' well, slip on tough boots and come in. And you, too, will eventually love Willow."—Don Welch

"Refreshingly accessible, Jim Reese's new selection of poetry, These Trespasses, manages to layer myth and meaning upon a clean, crisp Midwestern vernacular, inventive imagery and luscious sounds. Reading These Trespasses over and over provides for a smooth and subtle yet deeper understanding of seemingly straightforward and enjoyable narratives. These Trespasses is a must re-read."—Raymond Hammond, Editor-in-Chief, New York Quarterly

"These Trespasses is firmly rooted in 'blasted country. Tough country.' Jim Reese's world is hardscrabble. 'Some call it salt licked.' It will work its way into your mind’s bloodstream."—David Lee

"Jim Reese knows that this old mudball is all we've got, and he holds on; and his poems invite us to hold on, too."—Middlewesterner

"Poets Paint Powerful Images . . . Reese's These Trespasses collects nearly 50 poems. Some of Reese's poems jump out right from the title, like 'Smell My Socks, You Bastard,' which recalls noted poet Charles Bukowski. His poem 'Reading Her Lips,' about his daughter, is straightforwardly affecting—a crooked grin love poem that stays with the reader."—John Keenan, Omaha World Herald

"The small-town, high plains place of these poems is described in spare but loving detail. Reese makes you want to be in on the joke and understand the hardness of this place, becoming friends and intimates with the sun-baked men and loose women he describes. One becomes nostalgic for the hard work of roofing or farming, and the late nights drinking bloody beer with cowboys, even if one has never actually done any of these things. . . . Men do live free in Jim Reese's poetry, constrained only by gravity, heat, hunger and women. One character, a traveling salesman, is brought low only by the vast 'space and place' of the Plains. This freedom from constraint is a major theme, and Reese experiments with both sober and quite playful poems. . . . Jim Reese's poems have never been so ambiguous, but as he shifts his focus from the hard realities of a life lived outside to the more civilized moments of a baby’s bedroom, his truths may become more complex."—Lincoln Journal Star

"A literary renaissance across the Great Plains, bolstered by distinctive regional presses, ambitious creative writing programs, well-attended city and state-wide literary festivals, and receptive fans, makes this part of the American West particularly vital right now for American letters. . . . Among the new voices poised to make a significant contribution to this region's literary culture is poet Jim Reese. In his new collection, These Trespasses, Reese trains his attentive, discerning eyes and ears to those telling details of life lived in place. From the porches, dank apartments, diverse bars, and vehicles of his personae, Reese inspects surprising, clarifying moments of poignancy and honesty, trespasses into connection and forgiveness."—Susan Naramore Maher, Western American Literature

"'Live and learn,' the saying goes. But any recent horror film offers a plethora of examples indicating that such is not always the case. The not-so-merry-go-round of the past seems to hold a magnetic fascination for some; they keep jumping on for another ride. Perhaps a more accurate saying might read, 'Reflect honestly on life and you might learn from it.' Such reflection is evident throughout Jim Reese's recent collection of poems, These Trespasses (Backwaters Press, 2005). There is a learning process recorded here, and honest reflection is at the heart of it. . . .  And from this present perspective, a life now shared with a wife and new daughter, he casts a hopeful, if timorous, glance toward the future. A future wholly dependent on what he has learned through honest reflection on the events of his life thus far, including, and especially, These Trespasses."—Neil Harrison, Prairie Schooner

"A jarring collection of real-life poetry that kicks like an old pump-12 gauge. . . . As noted Nebraska poet Don Welch says in praise of the collection, 'If you want poems smooth-tongued or surrealistic, don’t look here.' Welch is right. Rather than self-indulgent esoterica gone soft around the edges, Reese offers sharpened words about tough people and hard lives and landscapes. In a style that's rugged as washboard gravel, he introduces people like Harold Cummins, who never learned to drive because he never had anywhere worth going. He takes us to a Main Street bar where you can 'in one corner listen as Harold Tahatchenbach, blinder than a coon in headlights, bends the truth,' and watch as Linus Cummins prances around with antlers on his head. And he travels the lonesome byways of Cedar County, Neb—'blasted country' populated with tough people who have been 'pounding the dirt since they could first stand.' People like that are worth meeting. Trips like that are worth taking."—Kevin Woster, Rapid City Journal

"An Assistant Professor of English and the Director of the Plains Writers' Tour at Mount Marty College, Jim Reese demonstrates and documents his undeniable talents as a poet and wordsmith with These Trespasses. This is a poetry that doesn't have a delicate bone in its whole literary body. Here are a series of highly recommended and distinctive poems that are vivid, blunt, candidly descriptive, and compelling in their engagement with the reader."—Midwest Book Review