Dry-Docked in New Jersey: An Eclectic Elegy

Sandra Dreis’ collection takes you on an intimate journey through the deepest of loves: grief. She lifts language to shine a light on what many of us aren’t able to articulate and for this we can be grateful. Dry-Docked in New Jersey pays tribute to the intricate journey of life, diagnosis, loss, healing. An eclectic elegy, indeed; Dreis’ craft takes you in and when it lets you go, you are changed.

-Jacinta V. White, editor, Snapdragon Journal of Healing

In the title poem, newly widowed Dreis admits, ＂I don’t drive a stick / So his Saab turbo convertible sulks like a neglected Christmas toy... / the sleek dark green beauty / tumored out of bounds.＂ The author transports readers into the life she and her young husband fiercely embraced despite his terminal diagnosis. In ＂Cafe Taro＂ ＂We frequent this midday oasis... / treasure our late lunches / play perfect napkin tricks / handle invisible cards / shuffled to fool time.＂ And fool they do, as told in ＂The Getaway＂-her husband’s secret kidnapping from the hospital to an East River pier-side eatery for ＂enhanced culinary therapy＂ served by a startled waiter. The final turn occurs at ＂Ponte Del Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs)＂, a poem finely paired next to ＂Black Pearls＂ where ＂stout tugs hum along the East River / led by fallen stars hung low on the bow.＂Dreis closes on a rising note, graces readers with hope. Laugh, cry, be brave. Take and read. This collectionis among her finest work.

-Donna Love Wallace, Between the Stones(Hermit Feathers Press, 2019)

In Dry-Docked, Sandra Dreis pares the pain of illness and loss down to a poignant core. Metro New York and its ＂side streets of malignancy＂ loom large here: its cafes, shops and hospitals illuminate the story of Dreis’ young husband, who is in his stride on Wall Street when an overwhelming diagnosis hits. Metaphor is often exquisite. Dreis treats her family’s experience with hope, wit and humanity, showing us the silent understanding of a barber, the quirky impropriety of a fellow cancer patient and the indomitable love of a wife and daughter.

-KelliRush, editor, Omega Poets, Reynolds American