Reviews

Pui Ying's poems are remarkable for the originality and power of their imagery, as well as their emotional depth, honesty, and wit. A volcano "grunts like a pedophile priest," "anelderly man / holds a bouquet / in the bend of his arm / like a newborn," "the train collects / the commuters like debt," and she imagines the philosophical implications of a death caused by a flying banana. A world traveler, she takes us from Sai Kung in Hong Kong to the New York City subway, a little French town, Brighton Beach Brooklyn, and even as far back as the first emperor of China pursuing his dream of immortality. As in the memorable title poem about a brutally cold winter that creates a longing for its opposite, the poems in this profoundly moving book surprise us again and again with their artistry of phrasing, rhythmic intensity, and quiet beauty. -Norman Stock, author of Pickled Dreams Naked and Buying Breakfast for My Kamikaze Pilot"