Spoiled Meat tells the stories of tough and tender survivors chasing freedom in small-town Pennsylvania, reporting from the “thump between the prison yard and the university.” Despite the jackknives, confederate trucks, thrown gravel, sour tastes and news, these frank and funny speakers keep vigil with us as the “sky turns pink,” as we savor the wonderful and strange landscapes around us.

— Ching-In Chen, judge of the Charlotte Mew Contest Judge

Adrienne Rich says: “A patriot is one who wrestles for the soul her country as she wrestles for her own being.” Santalucia’s Spoiled Meat are patriotic poems by these and any measure, driven by Santalucia’s unmistakable voice and unsparing diction. She holds no punches as a poet, and this latest book sounds dark humor, biting satire—and pathos—at every turn. Spoiled Meat is a tour-de-force of political dissent and lyrical engagement with the core questions of who, as citizens and as a nation, we are and who we want to be.

— Shara McCallum, author of Madwoman