House of Fact, House of Ruin: Poems - Softcover

“In Sleigh’s hands . . . moments of ongoingness mix something of the daily with something of the miraculous. . . . Like [Walt] Whitman, Sleigh here plays with what the observer’s notebook can become. He embeds lines of poetry in journalistic essays like a rogue reporter; conversely, he’ll forge a sonnet or rhymed tercets out of reported language.”―The New York Times Book Review

“What Sleigh helps us see in these poems is something deeper than journalism can offer: a heart and mind torn by inhabiting a world but not fully grasping its pain.”―The Millions

“Sleigh makes poetry go beyond itself. Like Wallace Stevens there’s an imperative beneath the line, words as a consequence of fine-grained thought.”―Washington Independent Review of Books

“[A] generous new collection. . . . Sleigh has been to the places and talked with the people of his poems―which aren’t all about conflict but include penetrating elegies, autobiographical bits, ruminations about animals, and more―and he knows the literary bases of the West well, especially Homer and the sonnet (a customary form for him, customarily half-rhymed). Thus informed, his poems range centuries and plumb the mysteries of human inconsistency with haunting forcefulness.”―Booklist

“Sleigh (Station Zed) blurs the boundary between art and artifact as he lyrically documents war zones in Libya, Iraq, and Syria in this 10th poetry collection. . . . He performs feats of empathy. . . . Sleigh brings readers close to trauma with a lyrical treatment from which one wants to turn but cannot.”―Publishers Weekly