"Because I did not die in the log cabin where I was born, I shoulder the Green Mountains wherever I go...." -"A Meditation on Fire In Gunmetal Blue, Jason Allen tracks the journey from the Green Mountains of his birth to his present life, passing through years of family strife, addictions, and misunderstandings to the place of love and peace that he calls today. The poetry in these pages does not shy away from the unpleasant nor does it ignore the beauty of the moments that have passed as he has grown from "the dirt-poor little shit who stumbled / into smart-kid classes in hand-me-down / sneakers and odd-fitting pants" to a man who vows to "fall for all the fictions / with happy endings." In between his words show why he is a courageous new voice in poetry.