The Sombrero Galaxy

Aaron Rudolph’s The Sombrero Galaxy is a book about honor: honor of family, honor of place, honor of food, honor of friendship, and the honor of work. These poems honor myriad cultural traditions with the gift of vigorous chiseled language plucked from stars as proof that sombreros are not for decoration. From the word “sombra” meaning shade, a sombrero is protection from the scalding sun, a protection that renders our world just dark enough to see ghosts, even in daylight. Aaron Rudolph’s The Sombrero Galaxy honors the ghosts we crave to remember. -Gary Moody, author of Hazards of Grace (2013) and Occoquan (2015), Red Mountain Press, Santa Fe.