Utopia can only exist, as William James hypothesized, if "on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far-off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torture." Cheryl Whitehead's struggle against the acceptance of "the fruit of such a bargain" is her great theme, enacted as a teacher, a musician, and now, in this debut collection of her work, as a poet. We can only ignore her voice at the expense of our humanity.

--Charles Martin

Cheryl Whitehead's resonant poetry grapples with the ghosts of a teacher's students lost to violence. The poet gives voice to the children and their stories, which have become enmeshed with her own story. The juxtaposition creates a new music uniquely her own.

--Diane Thiel

I can't tell you how long I've waited for this audacious storyteller to step into the wash of a justified and woefully overdue limelight. These deftly-honed snapshots are crafted by a teacher, stubborn in her love for those in her care; a daughter reconciling the pull and push of family, and, through it all, a restless romantic insisting on a dance to all life's fractured and addictive music. Cheryl Whitehead does not step gingerly into this chaos-she does so resolutely, flaunting a wild and disarming talent.

--Patricia Smith