Swerve

A lyrical journey about family, resilience, and the many roads that shape our lives.

Lyrical and narrative, Christine Rhein's poems travel the streets of Detroit, male-dominated automotive test tracks, and an ever-changing America. Rhein explores the crossroads of gender roles and technology, family legacy and daily news, and the wonders and complexities of love. She traces echoes of current events in her parents' memories of fascist wartime Germany, muses about language and the ways it shapes us, and writes with energy and tenderness about her experiences as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, engineer, and citizen. These poems grapple with the messy reality of the world, yet she finds hope in nature, art, human connection and the human spirit. This collection will surprise and delight with its wit, compassion, and intelligence as Rhein shows how past and present intersect and how we navigate life's winding roads and detours with tenacity and grace.