"Many poets can scratch words onto paper, but they lack the painter's eye that turns those words into images that rise from the page to take our breath away. Mr. Pelcman is what we might call a verbal cinematographer. His words often arrive with familiar experiences, causing us to nod our heads as we watch them unfold quietly, gently before us. And then, without warning, he delivers a sledgehammer's blow that slams an event before us—one that we don't deserve to share—and it hangs in memory like a fishhook in the mind's eye. A poet whose body and soul carry the baggage of his years with dignity and grace, Steven Pelcman's poetry has already made its mark. It will be read far into the future."