Description: This new collection of lyric poetry uses the idea of the "threshold moment" as its central metaphor. Chitwood's threshold moments can be anything from the instant when a rock being held up by a frozen pond melts through and makes its plunge to the moment when a child realizes his childhood is lost forever. The poems demonstrate that these moments can bring about changes for either better or worse. Chitwood describes this collection as a hymn to both the joy and loss that can be found in these transitional moments.
Brief description: Michael Chitwood's work has received the L. E. Phillabaum Award from LSU Press, the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing, and the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Poetry.