One of my first impulse book purchase of the pandemic — I bought this through the #AWPvirtualbookfair. I've enjoyed books from Wayne State University Press's Made in Michigan series before, and I couldn't resist the description of this book as "my gorgeous queer disabled eco poetic freaky sturgeon dinosaur survivor."

The sections of this collection that fit this description well I LOVED. Gut Body and Contours are visceral and tactile, embodied in nature. Court Theatre examines a sexual assault and its aftermath — the police report, the courtroom testimony, perceptions of her body by authorities and herself. These first three sections I loved so much that later poems fell a bit flat in comparison. Picking the book up later and thumbing through the later sections out of sequence with the first, they pulsed with new resonance.

Also, I just have to say, the entire book design for this is SO GORGEOUS. Each section has an opening page with a full-page monochromatic rendition of the cover image (a sturgeon) and isolated flashes of color appear in titles and headings throughout the book. The press did a lovely job making this a beautiful object in addition to the quality of the poetry.

So glad I stumbled across this one. ( )