Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of The Boatloads is itsovert references to church and Christianity. Dan Albergotti's references arenot mere proselytizing, though. In fact, the first poem in the book,"Vestibule," tells the story of the author's teenage experience making love tohis girlfriend in a university chapel, saying: "Lord of this other world, letme recall that night. / Let me again hear how our whispered exclamations / nearthe end seemed like rising hymnal rhythm / and let me feel how those forgottenwords came / from somewhere else and meant something." Dan Albergotti teachesat Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.