Selected Poems by John McAuliffe

His book is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. McAuliffe’s got the gift. Mark the name. His sure hand is apparent in every line: syntax and pulse in the service of experience. This poet’s sense of shape and design provides structures that highlight his felicities of movement, texture and observation. No cheap flourishes, no ingratiating mannerisms, just the real stuff, hard-won, handsomely brought off. This guy’s the total package, as we say over here about our young, star athletes.

— August Kleinzahler