Bone Fragments : Spartan Press : 9781958182611 : 1958182613 : 24 Jan 2024 : "Whitman wrote "who touches this book touches a man." When we pick up Rick Christiansen's powerful and elegant Bone Fragments, we also touch a man's history and character. The poems are shaped by Christiansen's life, his alcoholic, abusive mother, the younger brother he stole groceries to feed, and now, his relationship with the much-loved grandson he is raising. Bone Fragments does not shy away from human beings at their worst-the poems address, unsparingly, neglect and abuse, but Christiansen often holds back from judgment. He understands what it's like not to have options, to do the best you can under the circumstances. In "Baby Teeth," for example, a caregiver prepares to use small pliers to extract a child's recalcitrant baby teeth, dental work that they cannot otherwise afford. The best poetry gives us a sense of the reality of someone else's life, what it's like to be someone else. This is Rick Christian