The System
A review by Brian Morrisey (editor POESY Magazine)

QUESTION INHIBITIONS OF MAN. QUESTION MEANS OF CORPORATE AMERICA. QUESTION EYES OF THE BEHOLDER. QUESTION THE SYSTEM.
I have been admiring the work of A.D. Winans for three years now and have enjoyed his approach to the poem. He refrains from using intricate metaphors to dance his image across the page. He would rather aim at his reader and fire a series of arresting images taking his victims by surprise from plainclothes police. The System is a collection inspired by the now defunct Folsom Prison Poet's Workshop which A.D. and the late Jack Micheline were involved in. The voices were strong enough to impact a lifelong lasting impression. Poets, like William Wantling, graduated from a similar workshop at San Quentin and became a leading voice in the small press setting a standard for poets and publisher's who are working hard to live up to today. In the title poem, The System, Winans exposes the exploitation victims of our system are up against when every breath becomes a savoring new beginning, "It's the system where / Just staying alive becomes / A small victory." Throughout the book, he struggles to answer the question of whether or not we are all confined to our own prison in one way or another. This is defined in his, Poem for a Friend in Prison, where he writes, "even if there are no keepers / where life has become a surreal movie / with nothing but actors /... It’s a hard life brother / on the inside on the outside." An unfair ruling might judge this book a depressing subject, but alike the means of poetry, it is an inside look at the lives of men whose, "...strength lives on / in all of us who dared / to reach out and taste the / Sun." (excerpt from Survival Song) It is rather a moving collection of inspiration to "shout out to stars" and become one with a deeper understanding of the intention to live each day to its fullest capacity, unrestrained, and question where the raindrops evolved from dribbling down outside our window.

The System
A review by Doug Holder (Ibbetson Street Press, Somerville, MA)

This collection of poetry is dedicated to A.D. Winans' and the late Jack Micheline's stint at the Folsom Prison Poet's Workshop decades ago. The format of the book is interesting. The text goes right to the edge of the page, and then of course stops, as if it is, well ... imprisoned. There is a stark sensibility to the poems and the look of the book. In UNTITLED Winans' asks the obvious question: " Why do they ask the condemned man/ If he has last words to say?/Like maybe FUCK YOU!" Winans unlocks the doors of the big house, and brings the reader to the maxium security tier.

How to Beat The System
A review by John L. Natkie

In the 25 years that I have been enjoying the work of A.D. Winans, I have never known him to sit quietly in the back of the bus. Always straight to the heart of the matter, whether it was concerning politics, war, or, in too many instances, his remorse at losing a close friend and literary associate.
In this chapbook of 11 poems, dedicated to Jack Micheline and Bob Kaufman, he sheds the veils of complicity to Society’s ills and displays life in its nakedness. In, SURVIVAL SONG, he relates:

"…I walk the midnight supermarket
Of death
Thinking of Lorca and that long
Dirt road
The bullet entering the skull
The gypsy ballad that sings
To the highest of stars
Knowing there is a strange code
To this language
We are addicted to…"

In, FOR WILLIAM WANTLING, he shares:

"…Looking into the cracked lips of sorrow
I walk the harsh streets of tomorrow
The ghost of my fears demanding that
I face my destiny…"

We all must face fate; but our poets, like A.D. Winans, show the way to live life to the fullest. We must escape the bonds of imprisonment which daily trap us. We must live life with a measure of style. Mr. Winans leads us in the proper direction.

THE SYSTEM is definitely a keeper. The design and layout are arresting, to say the least…more than worth its price.

The System
A review by justin.barrett (Remark. e-zine, ed. Hemispherical Press)

The System is by far the most creatively designed (think opening credits to the movie Seven), beautifully laid out chapbook I've ever seen. Though light on the poems (there are only 11 in the collection) it is by far worth the $10 just for the beauty of the book itself (the lettered edition, which cost $20, is sold out). The 11 poems in The System deal, in the various forms of prison (real and imagined), in blunt imagery and keen insight. If you are familiar with Winans' poetry, you will not be disappointed with this collection.

In the title poem, Winans' talks about people who work their entire lives only to be let down by bankruptcy or lay-offs. ”For the most part they suffer / in silence and die unnoticed" he writes. "It's the system where / Just staying alive becomes / A small victory".