The World Shouldering I [signed] [first edition]

These poems advocate for courage in the face of a future whose business it is to be dangerous. There is a gallery of marvels in these pages - poems of nature, love, jazz, family, and while some address the despairing tragedies of history, all remain affirmations of hope. "James Ragan's poems are satisfying and distinctive, full of arresting colocations and striking phrases."-Richard Wilbur "Ragan dominates the art of image, the art of poetic line, and the art of poetic narration with insight that marks major poets."-Miroslav Holub