"Jason Baldinger's American Aorta pulses like a midwestern road trip to the dustbowl, the soundtrack a steady thump of pavement and beating sun. You can smell the diesel and fast food on your fingers and in your clothes. "In a roadhouse/I order a gallon of sweet tea/a platter of catfish/let the air conditioner be my spine." Baldinger brings us to each new scene with largehearted compassion and tender observation. From "painkillers and double shift towns" and "for miss woodchopper" to "emphysema highways" and "bonnie parker heart", characters are sketched here from dust and rust, their souls on subtle display. This collection is a lifetime of travel and connection through the American rustbelt with gracious tribute at each stop, asking its readers to return, to savor the words like a slow sun laying itself wide at the edge of the sky. "After the speakeasy/stars pour molten metal/sparks of rustbelt towns/fade in a kansas city skyline... as the hours flash on/age plays tag with us." -Jonie McIntire, Poet Laureate of Lucas County, Ohio (2022-2024), author Semidomesticated (1st edition, Red Flag Poetry 2020 chapbook contest winner; second edition Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2022) Jason Baldinger is a poet and photographer from Pittsburgh, PA. He's penned fifteen books of poetry, the newest of which include: A History of Backroads Misplaced: Selected Poems 2010-2020 (Kung Fu Treachery), and This Still Life (Kung Fu Treachery) with James Benger. His first book of photography, Lazarus, as well as two ekphrastic collaborations (with Rebecca Schumejda and Robert Dean)are forthcoming. His work has appeared across a wide variety of online sites and print journals. You can hear him read from his work on Bandcamp and on lps by The Gotobeds and Theremonster. His website can be found at jasonbaldinger.com