ANGELS, THIEVES, AND WINEMAKERS
A Volume of Poems about wine
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Introductions Made Easy

If only people wore labels,
their foreheads clearly displaying
their appellation, their varietal,
their alcohol content,
think of the time it would save.
We could cut out the small talk,
the “where are you from?”
and “what do you do?”
Appropriate pairings
would be more obvious,
we might know if they met
government standards,
and we would have a better idea
who might improve with age
and who we should enjoy
 right now.

Joe Mills takes the chestnut of wine as a provider of truth and gives us something wonderfully original. These poems are smart without being stuffy, humorous but never coy, and full of startlingly sharp details that took my breath away. Mills' observations about love, intimacy, and the smallest details of domestic life make this collection full of nuance, longing, and, yes, truth. 

- Lindsey Crittenden, author of The Water Will Hold You:  A Skeptic Learns to Pray and The View from Below
In Angels, Thieves, and Winemakers, Joe Mills dips in and out of the wine barrel with poems running the vineyard from sober to passed out on the tasting room floor, making for a fun read. In his poem "The Good Nights," Mills writes "On the good nights/when the bottle's empty/we always want/ just a little more..." and that's how I felt when I'd finished the last poem. 
 
--Matt Mason, 2-time winner of the Nebraska Book Award, author of What We Don't Know We Don't Know, and Admiral in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. 
Copyright . Joseph Mills. All rights reserved.
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