TAP DANCING FOR THE RELATIVES

Poems by Richard Michelson

I am deeply moved by Michelson’s poetry. May these poems be shared with many more readers.
—Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate

Tap Dancing for the Relatives goes beyond the personal while carrying a lush family history in its wake; there is humor and craft and one leaves Michelson’s work feeling glad, not only to be alive, but to be alive with his words and characters dancing across the mind’s eye.
—Roger Weingarten

Michelson understands the secret of soaring. He understands a person has to be weighted down with pennies or he will just float away-like his Aunt Frieda caught in the wind. Maybe it’s too painful to be here. Maybe he needs a better view. A lovely poet, who overcomes his nostalgia with hard particulars, with deep feeling.
—Gerald Stern, winner of the National Book Award for Poetry