61 Central by Ink

“In 61 Central, Ink explores an old Central Pennsylvania coal town turned ghost town by a man-made environmental disaster and the highway that runs through it. Using language that’s both concise and cinematic, he at times evokes the suspense of Steven Spielberg’s classic film debut Duel and Muriel Rukeyser’s poetic document of environmental disaster, The Book of the Dead. He empathizes with what was and what remains, while his description of the all consuming eternal inferno that rages just below the surface is chilling.”

–Tony Gruenewald, Poet, The Secret History of New Jersey

“61 Central makes interesting work of winter—how gentle weather casts a devastated and haunting terrain, due mostly to the human impact within that landscape. Ink frames a reality not for fallen snow, but it’s aftermath. This is why we yearn for warmer months.”

–Patrick Boyle, Features Editor, The Rumpus

“In 61 Central “this much is obvious: no-one is home.” An empty town, like absence, has “no vocabulary,” yet Ink’s poetry outlines the shapes of ghosts. The concrete of empty houses turns to “bones” and abandoned couches become “almost-alters.” This collection beautifully leads us through an abandoned town evoking an ache and yearning for all those we will never know.”

–Nicelle Davis, Poet, In the Circus of You, The Walled Wife