Trailer Park Psalms: Poems

by Ryler Dustin

Winner of the 2023 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize 

Trailer Park Psalms traces the speaker’s journey beyond his boyhood trailer park, through an American landscape marked by violence—from a gas line explosion in his hometown to his father’s war memories to the scars of colonialism inscribed in place, language, and ecology. Along the way, he searches for sources of awe that might inspire us, even in a compromised the everyday miracle of eyesight, the courage of the Voyager spacecrafts, and the “clumsy kindness” of family members trying to mend the damages of the past. In the end, what he finds isn’t faith but the hope that “if there’s a heaven, we will bend / to examine our old selves / and wonder how something so delicate / was ever allowed.” 

Genres: Poetry

88 pages, Paperback

Published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[J.I. Kleinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are poems of generosity and grace, anchored in the real world, in a place that is known and familiar, but could be any place. The K-Mart and dumpsters and a grandmother’s trailer inhabit a world where, also, “The creek wears moonlight like a coat of mirrors.” If Ryler Dustin was once the boy “reading novels / set among alien suns,” he has brought his vision to earth in Trailer Park Psalms. These are poems of longing – for place, person, light – without nostalgia and without rancor, but with an understanding of the importance of naming all that has been seen and touched and felt. The poems are easy to read, not because they are glib or insignificant – just the opposite – but because their language is unencumbered and their story and emotion is so recognizable. Highly recommended.

[Courtney LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of poems about childhood, growing up, nature, family, and identity.

from Trailer Park Psalm: "Bless us, Lord, as we were back then: / a pack of knobby boys on bikes, /// girls with creosote-lined eyes / and smiles slick with gloss."

from Light Years: "the stars are hard and high / outside my wide kitchen window, / blazing above the snow-sheathed maple / from distances so deep / they are described in terms of time— // the time it takes the ghost of light, the fastest thing / to reach us."

from Names of Trees: "Now the street darkens as rain / hits the window where I wait for you / to return safely from teaching English // which you say is really history—"

[Marianne Mersereau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book! The author has a background in slam poetry which is reflected in the wonderful musicality of his poems. They are also filled with images from the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest and the rural experience. The title poem is particularly well done. Another favorite is called "To Make Color" in which the author shares how his grandmother emptied the stove in their trailer home of ashes each morning "for the garden in spring." Tree lovers will especially appreciate the many references to trees found in the Evergreen State.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been trying to read more poetry in the last few years. This was a lovely volume of poems, kind of quiet and observant with themes of nature and growing up and family/relationships. It may be a weird analogy, but it felt to me like the poetry relative of some songs by Jason Isbell or Kacey Musgraves.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely friend gave me this collection to read. This morning it absolutely was the succor my mind needed.

[Raino Isto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really amazing imagery, big Pacific NW mood