MAN KILLS GIRLFRIEND OVER COLD SANDWICHES AND OTHER SAD TALES by Michelle A Johnson

Michelle Johnson‘s poetry is both insightful and unflinching, vividly portraying life’s riotous enjoyments as well as its moments of reflection. This chapbook is filled with anecdotes, or rather word-perfect confessions, that surprise the reader with glimmers of humor, sympathy , and wisdom in the unlikeliest surroundings. In poems such as “Ms. Bulima,” it channels the selfscrutiny of Sylvia Plath at her most violent and self-destructive, but with a precision and candor that not only disarms but also, against all prudish expectations, charms and convinces.

–Brad Buchanan, author of THE SCARS, ALIGNED: A CANCER NARRATIVE (Finishing Line Press, 2019)

Michelle Johnson‘s poetry stands in quiet rebuke to all that is shallow. Her voice is startling and genuine and exercises poetry’s ability to uncover the truth. She clearly enjoys a love affair with words, and with fierce intelligence and dark, skillful humor, Johnson asks her readers to question what it really means to be courageous in this world. We are witness to many difficult moments, including the struggle with an eating disorder and the shame of standing in line at a welfare office. Yet we leave these poems with new strength and insights. Most wondrous, however, is her reminder of the strength of a woman’s spirit: “Always another thing to feed, always another matter to tend, always another life demanding & sucking at her very marrow.”

–Catherine Fraga, Running Away with Gary the Mattress Salesman