The 1st time I listened to biker poetry was in 1995 in Milwaukee at the Harley factory headquarter. I just met with Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum, Harley-Davidson Historian Emeritus. After some small talk about custom motorcycles, he invited me to join a group of bikers to listen to his motorcycling poetry. I clearly remember being fascinated by the colors of his words, and the music of his sentences. Biker poetry started on a farm in Colorado in 1975, and was attended by an assortment of bikers and hippies and a young Hunter S. Thompson. Since then, biker poetry is a genre on the rise and there is now an official Biker Poetry Movement. Writing poems about the biker lifestyle is celebrating the fact that we are a special breed of people who can’t be fenced in by society, who simply enjoy open space and natural beauty. “Rubber Side Down” (I would have preferred a more poetic title) is a wonderful anthology of poetry, essays and photography about the biker community. Contributors to this book include motorcyclist Jose “JoeGo” Gouveia  head of the “Highway Poets Motorcycle Club,” Allen Ginsberg and Thom Gunn, Diane Wakoski, and a host of writers from the motorcycle press, including Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum Susan Buck, and K. Peddlar Bridges. In addition, a special photo section has been provided by celebrated motorcycle photographer Michael Lichter. And yes, I guarantee that after reading a couple of pages you are going to love motorcycle poetry. Rubber Side Down