Recalling an era as tumultuous as our own, the poems in 1968 describe a childhood haunted by assassinations and other forms of American violence and a young boy’s yearning for love born, in part, out of that chrysalis of fear In poems about history, family, music, and love, Walton writes of African American experience—which is to say American experience—one bookended by MLK’s murder (and memories of a deeper past) and 21st century backsliding. His vox humana is attuned to our hope—and our predicament.

“These history-haunted poems are passionate and poised, witty and blue, made out of a lifetime facing—and loving—the ‘killing machine’ of the world. Anthony Walton welcomes you in them like a friend. His artistry, so casual and elegant, reminds me why I read.”
— Langdon Hammer

“Gravitas, candor, melodicism -- by turns obdurate and becalmed, Anthony Walton writes about what matters with authority and style. His poems are grounded and they make you feel that history and pain can be talked about meaningfully, that we can understand others and ourselves better.”
— Vidyan Ravinthiran