These poems speak from the minds and mouths of Dobbins’s deckhands, river pilots, shanty preachers, and sharecroppers. The poems communicate desire, loss and hurt, and preternatural music in a way that never feels less than caring and genuine. These are lives off-the-record, long lost but striking.

An almost ethereal woman, Dobbins recited her poetry in a soft-spoken voice that was interestingly juxtaposed with the various tones of her poetry. Whether it was a calmer portrait of a small Southern town or a scathing poem about biting off another woman’s finger, Dobbins kept her caressing tone with little spurts of emphasis on certain phrases. This way of reciting had the audience straining their ears for more.

Christian Gerard and Heather Dobbins have a lot in common. As a married couple, they love dancing, traveling, and working in the yard. They love cooking and nearly every type of music. They are also both professors at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith – Gerard an assistant professor of English, Dobbins an adjunct English professor.