"poem blotting paper 12 Lbs of lard" is stamped in large letters on a yellowed page from a book. The text takes up most of the page, and the author has signed his name at the bottom.

Joel Lipman lives in Toledo, Ohio, where he founded the Abracadabra Studio of Poetics, and in Northport, Maine, where he co-convenes the Poets Woodshed. Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Toledo, he was Lucas County's first poet laureate, serving from 2008-2014.