Holy Week, 1847 by Paul Stroble

Paul Stroble creates magic, music, and poetry out of his family history and personal geography. His graceful poems are unsentimental, at times heartbreaking, at times soul inspiring. This book has the richness of great historical narrative combined with a special artistry that makes the feelings of the people and places seem contemporary. This is a beautiful book that I—and you—will return to many times.

–Tom Dukes, author of “Gospels from the Lower Shelf”

Paul Stroble writes a beautiful poem about Comfort Williams, our ancestor: her history, hardships, and challenges. Paul writes with love for his own family today, with humor and faith. I enjoyed his poem! It touched my heart.

–Susan Koehler Koch, retired LPN and church secretary, Paul’s cousin

Paul Stroble spins many tales forward and backward from his 3rd great grandmother’s grave near his hometown, Vandalia, IL.  While he suggests that “You may consider this poem/My grief rendered as a landscape,” he in fact also tells of hopes, triumphs, and joys in the places where he has built his adult life and the travels that resonate with his ancestors’ pasts and the history he has made with his own family. As he vividly shows, our histories are grounded in places that command our attention.

–Kim Kleinman, Webster University