Ephemeral lives, and souls lost in the tattered fabric of war, displacement, and ruined love find hope, redemption, and a common voice in Eugene Gloria's artful concoction of American and Filipino vernaculars. While some of these thirty poems deal with the landscape and folkways of contemporary Filipinos, others locate themselves on the streets and byways of present-day America. Like many poets of dual heritage, Gloria's work is concerned with self-definition, with the attempt to reconcile a feeling of exile and homelessness. Frequently taking the form of character studies and first-person narratives, Gloria's poems poignantly illuminate the common man's search for connection to the self and to the world."Eugene Gloria's Drivers at the Short-Time Motel is propelled by an imagistic sincerity and paced lyricism. Each poem seems to embody the plain-spoken as well as the embellishments that we associate with classical and modern Asian poetry. Though many of the poems address the lingering hurt of cultural and economic imperialism, worlds coexist in the same skin through magical imagery. Gauged by a keen eye, history is scrutinized, but through a playful exactness. These wonderful poems are trustworthy." --Yusef Komunyaaka

Drivers at the Short-Time MotelI
In Language
Mauricio's Song
White Blouses
Winter Fires
Saint Joe
Subic Bay
Ruin
"Where the Feeble Senses Fail"
Song of the Pillar Woman
The Maid
The Driver Conrado's Penitent Life
Drivers at the Short-Time Motel
The House in San Miguel

II
For the Dead and What's Inside Us
On Mission Road
Iron Man
Milkfish
The Whisper
Nocturne: Two Versions
Sisters of the Poor Clares
Pan de Sal
Elegy for No One

III
Palawan
Rizal's Ghost
News of Pol Pot's Capture
Sweet Talk
Palm Sunday
Carlos Bulosan
White Flower
The Buick

Eugene Gloria was born in Manila, Philippines, and raised in San Francisco. He was educated at San Francisco State University, Miami University of Ohio, and the University of Oregon. His first collection of poetry, Drivers at the Short-Time Motel, was selected for the 1999 National Poetry Series and also won the Asian American Literary Award. Gloria is also the recipient of a Fulbright Research Grant, a Poetry Society of America award, and a Pushcart Prize. He teaches at DePauw University and lives in Greencastle, Indiana.