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Work Lunch
In his debut poetry collection, Alabama poet and musician Lee Bains draws on his own experience at the intersection of work and food—the daily ritual of a workday lunch.
Lee Bains’s four albums center what Rolling Stone once called “Southern gospel punk.” In Work Lunch , his poems explore the multifaceted and often contradictory nature of Southern culture and values through the lens of food, whether at a meat-and-three or a taquería. In sprawling, long-form poems, Bains mines subjects of family, the often invisible work of service, and the horrors and comforts of fast food chains.
A take-out gyro prompts a reflection on religious-nationalist violence, a Cuban sandwich spurs consideration of U.S. imperialism, a hamburger channels into a cry of solidarity with organized labor, and a salad elicits an epic rumination on lineage, class, race, gender, memory, and faith. These poems glimpse sandwiches under shade trees, tables full of boisterous coworkers discussing barbecue, and reflective moments at those dwindling local spots, all fertile ground for investigating Bains’s home places of Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, the systems of power that shape life there, and the ways in which ordinary people survive, connect and fight back.
Lee Bains’s four albums center what Rolling Stone once called “Southern gospel punk.” In Work Lunch , his poems explore the multifaceted and often contradictory nature of Southern culture and values through the lens of food, whether at a meat-and-three or a taquería. In sprawling, long-form poems, Bains mines subjects of family, the often invisible work of service, and the horrors and comforts of fast food chains.
A take-out gyro prompts a reflection on religious-nationalist violence, a Cuban sandwich spurs consideration of U.S. imperialism, a hamburger channels into a cry of solidarity with organized labor, and a salad elicits an epic rumination on lineage, class, race, gender, memory, and faith. These poems glimpse sandwiches under shade trees, tables full of boisterous coworkers discussing barbecue, and reflective moments at those dwindling local spots, all fertile ground for investigating Bains’s home places of Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia, the systems of power that shape life there, and the ways in which ordinary people survive, connect and fight back.
- GenresPoetry
132 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I had the pleasure of hearing Lee read some of these poems (including some excerpts from the longer ones) at a reading + music performance in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He brought so much energy and warmth into his public reading, and the words sing equally well on the page. I can’t wait for this book to enter the world at large so that everyone can savor the power behind his words.
October 1, 2026
Lee Bains leads by example. His music with the Glory Fires and later solo echo the trials of the common man and implore us to do better. He's got the knack for using how you view yourself to agree with his points. His poetry is no different. Very accessible and timely work.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews