In his brilliant poem, "At one time", Rob Dakin writes, "Everyone/I loved/by blood/was in this room/where I'm sitting now, /together.//But there was/no cat.//Now/there is/a cat: . The sense of loss in the poem is all the more powerful for being understated. That loss is at the heart of this wonderfully titled collection. Sometimes with subtlety, often with bravo, Dakin gives voice to isolation and to the length men will go to alleviate that elemental, existential condition. it's a collection for the times...for all time

Sue William Silverman, author, If the Girl Never Learns

Articulate, intelligent, and honest, Preening for the Mortician is a soliloquy. These poems evoke an image of the poet standing on a bare stage, speaking to the blackness with a resonance that compels the audience to closely listen.

Whether reflecting on the cold that follows empty intimacy, offering an elegy to slaughtered children, or contemplating contentment, it is a voice that exposes 'common sense' rationales and rewards the reader with the surety that these revealed truths matter.

Constance Stadler, is the author of several collections of poetry including Responsorials (with Rich Follett), Paper Cuts and Descending Upward.