I travel in rusting burned-out sedans

Poems that dive, move, surprise. Lyrical laments. Love poems. Rants with bite. Poems from the “corner of Lyric and Strange.” A “hip-hop sermon/montage” on America and the state of its dream. Sardonic humor. It's all there and more in Jim Bohen's first book of poetry, I travel in rusting burned-out sedans.

It's in slices from a life of writing — remembering the first day of school, singing the rock band blues, growing older, grandparent-hood. It's in the ominous tone that lurks behind the opening poem quiet to the weary rhythmic distress of the closing Cycle.

In between, there are tender looks at the past. bitter rants about injustice and mortality. There's some delightful fun, whether it's playing with a word like “tell,” deciding what to do with the kids' stuff once they've moved out, celebrating a first grandchild with some clever exuberance, or delving into memories of secretly listening for late-night baseball scores on a “hidden” radio.

Sometimes lyrically wistful, occasionally surrealistic, always thoughtful, Bohen's poems probe and preach, smile and reflect, snap and snarl. And wherever the poems travel — to challenging, down-to-earth, dark, funny and more — they bring back insights and give readers a chance to luxuriate in the poet's lifelong love of words, his meant-to-be-read-aloud rhythms and his unique use of rhyme. And everything found in a surprising variety of very satisfying poems.