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Promises and Punishment: The Grit and Gold
A raw, unfiltered tribute to the men and women who build their lives with grit, sweat, and stubborn hope.
In Promises and The Grit and Gold, poet Christopher Kestner delivers a blue-collar mythology—poems forged from diesel nights, calloused hands, aching devotion, and the quiet holiness found on the edge of exhaustion. These are verses born on highways, in break rooms, in the silence after an argument, and in the fragile spaces where love and labor collide.
This chapbook digs into the hard truths many live but rarely speak
The pride and burden of working-class identity
Masculinity shaped by pressure, silence, and sacrifice
Marriage tested by distance, duty, and the weight of expectations
The shame and softness buried beneath steel and sweat
The painful beauty of providing, enduring, and becoming
Through striking imagery—dusty caps, worn boots, rusted crowns, and hands that hold both strength and regret—Kestner creates a poetic landscape where faith is found in motion, redemption is carved from toil, and paradise is the next sunrise on the horizon.
If you’ve ever worked until your back broke, loved until your chest ached, or carried the weight of expectations heavier than your paycheck—these poems will feel like a conversation you’ve needed for years.
Honest. Unvarnished. Unafraid.
This is poetry for those who keep going, even when the world mistakes their endurance for simplicity.
In Promises and The Grit and Gold, poet Christopher Kestner delivers a blue-collar mythology—poems forged from diesel nights, calloused hands, aching devotion, and the quiet holiness found on the edge of exhaustion. These are verses born on highways, in break rooms, in the silence after an argument, and in the fragile spaces where love and labor collide.
This chapbook digs into the hard truths many live but rarely speak
The pride and burden of working-class identity
Masculinity shaped by pressure, silence, and sacrifice
Marriage tested by distance, duty, and the weight of expectations
The shame and softness buried beneath steel and sweat
The painful beauty of providing, enduring, and becoming
Through striking imagery—dusty caps, worn boots, rusted crowns, and hands that hold both strength and regret—Kestner creates a poetic landscape where faith is found in motion, redemption is carved from toil, and paradise is the next sunrise on the horizon.
If you’ve ever worked until your back broke, loved until your chest ached, or carried the weight of expectations heavier than your paycheck—these poems will feel like a conversation you’ve needed for years.
Honest. Unvarnished. Unafraid.
This is poetry for those who keep going, even when the world mistakes their endurance for simplicity.
17 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 16, 2025
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December 16, 2025
True grit of life and with some story telling in the poetry. It shows that the struggles behind the world can happen. This is one book with a few short poems to get into on a slow reading day. I can't way to see what happens next in this Author's journey.
Displaying 1 of 1 review