In Molly Rice's Forever Eighty-Eights there are "no crystal stairs" in her southern mill hill childhood. Yet, the poet pushes onward following an urgent pulse, while unflinchingly calling forth ghosts, wounds, and secrets of the past. She bids them to come out of their hiding places, while she battles both hardships and heartbreaks. In this work, Molly reckons, but she also fathoms, beauty and pays homage by uplifting people, places, and moments deeply rooted in North Carolina.