Ferruccio Brugnaro was born in Mestre, Italy in 1936. He worked for more than 30 years—most of his adult life—in the giant complex of chemical factories in the Porto Marghera district of Venice. By turns tender, loving, angry, satiric, these are passionate poems that grab you by the collar by Italy's best-known working-class poet—skillfully crafted, clear, and filled with powerful images.