The poems of Jeff Weddle's new collection, A Puncher's Chance, are alive with all the mystery, beauty, love, loss, and heartbreak we are surrounded by every day in this world of ours. Weddle shows off his range in this book with an array of poems from the lushly lyrical to the cut-the-crap, straight-talking conversational. In here, there are dream-like visions, laments of rejection, celebrations of redemption, and rallying incitements to his fellow artists to keep up the good fight of creation and imagination. How else can we survive in this world gone at least half-mad? One of the poems in this collection claims, "It is time for us to be good to one another." Indeed, it is. The strong voice in Jeff Weddle's poems is one of honest devotion to his craft and committed resistance to corruption and lies. It's just what we need right now. Scott Silsbe, author of Muskrat Friday Dinner