From the introduction by Victoria Nordlund, Master Teaching Artist at the Mark Twain House and Museum, Hartford, Connecticut: "The poems in this collection are rooted in family history, migration, inheritance, and belonging. Iris writes with remarkable precision, allowing ordinary objects—like a cup of Turkish coffee, cigarette smoke, a cracked glass, or a peach—to become vessels for grief, resilience, and love. Her work moves fluidly between personal narrative and cultural memory, honoring both the weight of the past and the revelations of the present."