Author Description

From the Introduction: This short book dovetails the new with the old, the imagined with lived experiences, cementing this mosaic of possibilities. Some terrifying moments are encased in chrysalises of beatific clarity and certainty.... These poems lead us as readers to search for answers in ourselves. I am not talking about profundity (though there are numberous profound moments here); in essence, I am speaking about how those simple overlooked glimpses at our common lives tend to rise to the troubled surface of the poetry.... Gotera paints the score in brilliant, bold, and brave strokes across an encompassing canvas.... A tension through juxtaposition is what Vince Gotera's *Dragonfly* achieves in a miraculous light that sobers the mind. Characters ease into each other's dreams, taking us along with them, and we are better and more complete because we have humbled ourselves long enough to peer through the eyes of these sojourners. *—Yusef Komunyakaa*