"Me and Susie: Poems from the Heart of Chikataw Wash" is a collection of the innermost thoughts of the inhabitants and outliers of a fictional town called Chikataw Wash, located in the stunning redrock desert. It is a Spoon River Anthology of the living. Whereas residents of Spoon River speak from beyond the graveyard, the characters of Chikataw Wash are very much alive and actively enmeshed in the joys and sorrows of their everyday lives.



These inhabitants speak occasionally with lyricism and musicality, with a rhythm and bang reminiscent of Carl Sandburg. They speak a prosy, casual style which asks to be read aloud. While at other times, they speak with a spare, quiet, sound, in concert with the bone and caw of the desert.



Each of the Chikataw Wash characters speak their piece, given carte blanche by the author to say whatever is foremost in their hearts; some are forlorn, some hopeful, some evince a wistful joy born of the desert's wisdom, and some, they simply endure.