Dave Nielsen
Dave Nielsen is the author of Unfinished Figures, winner of the 2016 Blue Lynx Prize for Poetry. His work has appeared in The Southern Review Southern Poetry Review, Tampa Review, The South Carolina Review, 2River View, Aethlon, and numerous other literary journals and magazines. He studied English at the University of Cincinnati. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and kids.
by Dave Nielsen
A Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection
Winner of the 2025 Press 53 Award for Poetry
Pre-orders ship late-April
ISBN: 978-1-950413-95-9
9 × 6 softcover, 68 pages
Tom Lombardo had this to say about Meant to Be: This collection attracted me because of its hyperbolic, somewhat fantastical approach to the poet’s life experiences, from his youth through parenting. Most of these poems use easy humor, though never too blatant, never a chuckle. Just admiration and a smile.
Sample Poem
For Rosie
This isn’t one of those comp leagues
where kids have been playing since they were two
and parents pay for a coach, nice uniforms,
and a slick website. But you better believe
these six-graders want to win
as much as any five-star athlete
destined for the ACC,
even though they can’t quite dribble—
not on a run. Sometimes two or three bounces
in a row. They slap at it with their palms,
that’s the problem, and their shots
are all screwed up, too much
throwing or elbowing—
I don’t know what.
I never take the Lord’s name in vain,
but their passes, sweet Jesus, float like a balloon
or something drowning in water.
And yet even the smallest of them,
a girl who looks like she’s seven,
can’t believe I’m subbing her out.
She raises her arms, stares at me, as if
to say, “Coach—you’re an idiot!”
For the next four minutes she’s on the bench,
shaking her head, making me feel bad.
She wants a chance
at all the positions. Guard, sure,
but forward too. “Heck, put me in at center!”
She doesn’t give a crap you played college.
She just wants to be out there—to touch the ball
once in a while
and play some really tough D.