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People Everyday Poetry. Paper, Perfect Bound Green Bean Press, 1998 ISBN 1-89140806-2 On the Bus faces look the same for a while and are a little bit frightening but after a few hours or so they gain their own kind of focus and a little boy with a drity face turns to spit on new shoes and homeless men with generator voices bum cigarettes at every stop and everyone in 10 minutes inhales the same greasy food while handsom black men give basketball scores for the asking and debate over who will take it all and kind fat women ask, "where ya heading'?" and give warnings against using bust stop bathrooms and children constantly cry and ass and back hurt from riding and a man comes on who stinks up the whole place and the air conditioner is broken and a black woman refuses to let a chinese man sit next to her and just when the ride and the people can be stood no longer the sun sinks purple into the fog of a harrisburg valley and everyone gathers to the windows to look say ohh and ahh smile at each other realizing that for the next 20 hours this is our own kind of family.
"Sinatra has 'it,' Ali has 'it,' Kerouac had 'it.'  When someone has 'it' you can tell right away.  The 'it' is what separates the giants from the rest.  Daniel Crocker has 'it.' A young writer with something special, he defines what 'Post-Beat Independent' is all about.  Dan is a wise man for his age; this comes across clearly in his writing.  Clarity, strength, passion, vision, and wisdom al come to mind when I think of his writing. When you read Daniel Crocker's work, you can see hints of Celine, Kerouac, Whitman, Rimbaud, and even some Mark Twain (Dan comes from Missouri).  He doesn't copy anyone; this stuff comes naturally.  He has 'it'-- his narrative poetry/prose makes you think, makes you feel, and makes you want to read more.  He is a refreshing new voice in the small press arena, and with any luck he'll go farther.  If you read 2 of Spades and 'Sorry, Richie' you'll know what I mean. Count me as his biggest fan. -- Dave Christy "Daniel Crocker is one of a lively band of modern poets who write not from the ivory tower of academic indulgence, but from the heartland of the people, and I stress HEART, because Crocker's poetry comes from deep inside him. To compare his poetry to other poets would do him an injustice, because Crocker has a distinct voice of his own.  If he writes from any school of poetry, it is the school of life.  These are thought-provoking poems; sometimes sad, sometimes bordering on the vicious, but always sincere.  At 24 years old, he bring a fresh breath of vitality to an all too often stale small press poetry scene.  This is a powerful collection of poems, and with it Green Bean Press further establishes itself as a serious small press publisher."  -- A.D. Winans "Crocker moves the envelope and advances writing on the human condition with no special interest in campus-bound formulas...a maturing artist that deserves more than a passing notice...Crocker thrives on the fabric of human characters...[People Everyday] is a very important book because it duly represents a transition going on in our poetry."  - Arnold Falleder