``Rena Priest addresses those who crave the meat of beasts with beets and leeks. And while she insists that Nature makes you pay, her poems tell us that through a wistful song of sighs. The world is not always comfortable, but her poems never lose touch with the fluidity of the spirit. Patriarchy Blues is an amazing collection.`` --James Bertolino, author of Ravenous Bliss: New & Selected Love Poems