I don't think I've read something that can crescendo like each of these poems do. How can we start with atoms and end up in a different time and place? Magic. Very magical stuff.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.

I requested this as a one-off, mostly because it's been a bit since I've read poetry. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did.

I keep a collection of poems that hit me, and a few from this book have definitely made the list. A great example of writing that is powerful via simplicity.

I enjoyed very much reading the work Gravitation by Dezinsky and Fields. Much of the modern, free verse poetry I read todays feels mostly unintentional and rushed -- somewhere there's an overcaffeinated poet writing down every quick phrase that pops into their head, whether it makes any sense or not. While this approach can be fun and interesting to write, sometimes it can produce poems that feel like word salad. This poetry collection does NOT fall into this category. It is clear after reading this book that Dezinsky is a master of language, and can create powerfully sounding poems that also are rich with meaning. Intentional. Good stuff seems like.

This is a collection of beautiful poems, and all of them beautifully translated. Nathan Fields did a wonderful job getting Milan's words across the language barrier. I always love poems that make you think, that you need to read over a few times and even take notes on - even moreso when the collection itself has notes in the back for that very purpose! All over, this is a beautiful collection, and the translation holds up the impact of each poem. I even wrote a few quotes down, but this one was my favorite: "I'm not alone, there are many whose breathing is synchronized with mine at this moment." If that doesn't make you want to read this, I'll be surprised.

Poetry in translation is an endless tension. The miracle of cross-cultural communication turns to look back and sighs at what is lost, diminished, violenced as meaning is torn from its mother tongue. Whether by love or survival it walks on, across the bridge. Collections like Milan Děžinský's Gravitation remind me why we humans will always search for a way across.

Děžinský captures life in vivid concrete details. His Imagist sensibilities draw the reader into the strange and unnerving moments of peace we encounter everyday. Intense relief, joy, discomfort, and fear mingle with the leaves outside his window. He chews on death and yearns for connection from the kitchen table. Existential anxieties saturate and enliven even the most mundane moments, Děžinský tells us. I'll be spending the immediate future wondering at the symbolism of foxes and deer in Czech tradition.

While the collection's best experienced as just that, a few poems especially stood out to me for their powerful themes or clever turns of phrase: "November", "Into the Darkness", "Among Debris", "Tuareg", "Dots", "We're Together Again"...You have my heart and mind.

Strongly recommend to anyone interested in modern Imagist poetry or simply in introspection.

[Thank you, University of Pittsburgh Press and NetGalley, for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.]