Matthew J. Spireng’s Good Work is one of the most aptly titled collections of 2020. It’s a five-part series of poems tightly centered on the theme of work in its various forms, and Spireng uses each entry to slowly deconstruct the idea of finding purpose and meaning in work that makes it “good.” He draws on his experiences with physical labor–logging, trimming trees, baling hay, tending to livestock, growing crops, and many more back-breaking duties to reveal the elegance in tasks that are often deemed routine or mundane. This is necessary work that many of our friends and neighbors will never be directly exposed to, but Spireng sees a necessity in presenting everyone with the honesty of these jobs. In “Perrine’s Bridge,” he sees in the bridge’s base components an artistry that connects us to past generations, and in the wreckage of a pigsty in “Salvage,” he identifies the inevitable decay of life. Under Spireng’s pen, the process of mowing and baling fields of hay turns into a vivid image of symbiosis between the land and humans in “Hay Mowed and Raked.” He’s a poet who recognizes the value in every moment, celebrating the beautiful times of community and progress while recognizing the times when innovation crosses a line. “Ashokan Reservoir” is an example of an overstep in development that displaced a people and destroyed the results of their own work. Spireng is a balanced thinker who scrutinizes the dichotomy of the very concept that holds his attention in the book. Each poem is purposefully constructed with the same goodness Spireng attributes to the work of the carpenters and loggers contained within them by drawing on the observations of a poet with a full life and a constant dedication to the craft.
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