Dean Young has a nimble imagination, big, honest ideas, and an obvious love of words. This slight and potent volume starts with a poetic communique to the Reader:

"Be we just passing

figments in this waterhead world or
is there hope that you and I may leave

some trace more permanent, scarlet,
tooth-marked, at least upon each other's heart?"

- and ends with a beautiful thought on fragility, hope and forever:

"Funny word, forever. You can put it at the end
of almost any sentence and feel better about
yourself, about how you've worked in a spray
of sparks accomplishing almost nothing
and feel that's exactly what the gods
intended, look at the galaxies, spilled
milk, their lust and retrograde whims."

He's truly one of the most resonant and impressive contemporary poets I've read. Of course, poetry is a very relative thing, and one man's resonance could be another's indifference. But if these excerpts intrigue you, I'd say you should check this out. ( )

This was an interesting poetry collection. I had never read any poems by Dean Young before, and some of his images really amazed me. Sometimes this was a pleasant amazement, sometimes a sense of disgust. Almost all of the poems elicited some kind of strong reaction from me however, so while I'm not going to start quoting anything from this collection anytime soon, I liked it enough that I want to read more from Young. Recommended if you're interested in contemporary poetry. ( )