from the author's preface:
"There seems to be something improper about garrulousness in Kansas. It is a state of terseness, of succinctness. It is not a state that calls forth epics, sagas, long disquisitions. Nor is it a state of sonnets, villanelles, ballades. Kansans don't believe in wasting words."
"The author here presents to his readers Kansas poems written according to the customs of his youth. The poems are minimalist poems. Each poem is a tiny scene, a redolent phrase, a pithy observation. Kansas readers will understand it all. Let the rest go run their mouths."
