This second volume of Appelbaum's epic poem is as dense and multilayered as Shawangunk conglomerate, incorporating historical documents of Ashokan Reservoir construction alongside brilliant flights of language, both bawdy and erudite, "reported / as never before / no nugget but of truth."

Poughkeepsie poet and Nightboat Books publisher Ali limns inner and outer journeys in spare, elegant lines that linger like wine on the palate. His imagery startles and thrills: "Music a scar unraveling in four strings / An army of hungry notes shiver down."

A frequent contributor to Chronogram's Poetica, Porpora has gathered 76 heartfelt, impassioned poems with titles like "I confess I am seduced by beauty" and "Absinthe Tryst" into an attractive volume whose letterpress cover features artwork by the author.

New Yorker Lerner is a Pushcart Prize nominee and Colony Café spoken word regular who knows how to find the poetry in nasal congestion, the jazz in an overdue heating bill, and the trickster coyote in an urban outlaw.

Lomontville native Spireng's carefully observed nature poems are filled with the flora and fauna of the Shawangunk Ridge. "Gathering what's simple and there / all around is child's play" he writes in "Queen Anne's Lace"; doing it well is anything but.

Greatgrandma Rosalyn strives to be "an Interesting Crone" and Mirabito lets his freak flag fly high in Shivastan's latest limited editions, craft-printed in Kathmandu on vibrant lokta papers; the pressed leaves in Freaksville's endpapers look smokable.