"In their elegant always lucid surfaces, Jeff Franklin's poems address the most serious responsibilities of adulthood, of the cost of being a citizen, husband, and father. He is enough of a southerner for history and place to be important, yet he is, at the core, a Romantic, a songwriter, storyteller, and joker. Each poem falls like a tracer that reveals a compassionate and intelligent life. Playful at times, fearless in approach and resolve, For Th e Lost Boys is a first book to mark." -Rodney Jones, author of Salvation Blues: One Hundred Poems, 1985-2005