Unlike so many contemporary poets, who are interested only in showing off their facility with words and their postmodern senses of "humor," Burkard continues to stretch and pull and widen our capacity to feel.

Burkard fans---did you know he's doing artwork now? Check out the cover of Diane Wald's THE YELLOW HOTEL (buy it for the poems inside AND the cover art---you won't be sorry).

Michael Burkard continues to champion the shy and battered, the self-conscious voices with a quiet dignity and grace. They roar and squeak from page to page. More so than in the past, Burkard has grown secure with insecure. He seems to allow the "crumbly tinges" to speak for themselves. The prat-falls of life are old friends, new lovers. And Burkard is taking us all for a tour on his train.

This is great book for the Burkard devotee and newbie alike. Don't be afraid to read it cover to cover.

When I fall into the drone of monotony, I turn to Michael Burkard's poetry again and again to jumpstart the mystery of living. Be inspired.

At times I carry Entire Dilemma around as a sort of companion and protector. When I'm riding the bus or waiting somewhere for time to pass, I read my friend. What makes this book so alive for me is Burkard's kind voice. There's no flash, no bull, yet it penetrates through the swirl of loud and profane discourse. Lovers of sparkles and shimmers and chiffon, lovers of cum and cusswords and suicides, go look somewhere else. This book is for people who are ready for the truth.

What I love about these poems is how subtle yet powerful they are. The book begins with a snapshot of the ordinary: the poet having a dream about a man he knows named Fred. This rather mundane human experience forms the first layer of many layers of the complex intimacy that is a Michael Burkard collection. There is a poem about how to ask to have a book back that the poet once gave away. There is a poem about socks. And these collide with the deeper, more painful poems about thinking about getting sober, not getting sober, getting sober and finally staying there. Poems about a life lived, and also the lives not lived. These are poems clearly written by a contemporary master. They are kind, wise, funny, they make you go "oh yeah...I know what you mean!" They make you stop breathing for an instant, as all good poems do.

The errors in book description were corrected by the time I looked, but it is somehow appropriate--Burkard's symbols are transmitted from across great distance, from alternate universes, at least alternate states of mind. Imagine drawing with a pencil and slowly drifting into sleep--the pencil continues to get more erratic, and with a lighter touch...

The book is misattributed, there are errors in electronic transmission, the book, the book,

It is a shame that such a beautiful book is listed by Amazon with such carelessness. Myronn Hardy did not co-author this book, and Burkard's name is spelled incorrectly. There are also electronic transmission errors in the text of the book description, such as apostrophes being replaced by question marks. Amazon should get its act together

I don't know how to explain it, but My Secret Boat is like a friend in the scary dark.