"A good poet is someone who manages, in a lifetime of standing out in thurnderstorms, to be struck by lightning five or six times." (Randall Jarrell). If ever a poet fits this description it is Jerry Martien. Lovers of poetry will be forever indebted to Blackberry Books, an independent publisher in Maine, for preserving the musings of this northern California coastline poet. Martien has written poetry for a quarter century and one suspects has spent his share of time in thunderstorms. That he has been struck by poetic lightning there is no doubt. Martien writes of his apprenticeship to place, and poetry, and carpentry, and human understanding and does so in a way that it relates to anyone that will but listen, regardless of their locale. It is of regional struggles with a universal theme. I orginally wanted to focus on one or two favorite poems but, as it happens with truly good poetry, found that I ended up treasuring them all. If you want to read of one man's compassionate view of his environment; the importance of family and friends; loneliness; love; politics; philosophy; and pride in a job well done, this book is a must have. The book is a testament to Martien's search for, and finding, where he stands and why. To be sure he has questions and doubts. Always, for the truly good poet, questions and doubts. But he has a knack for leading the reader to believe that maybe, just maybe, he is on the right track. This is not a sentimental, touchy-feely book. Rather, it is an account of one man who has, in a lifetime, been struck by poetic lightning. It doesn't happen very often. Martien can speak to the reader in a way many poets struggle for and miss. This book is worth the readers time.