Atomic Time

I poet convoke this minyan of infidels/to mourn and to celebrate/what remains of our humanity. Elissa Rashkins Atomic Time entranced me with a timeless voice a voice as sharp and sorrowful as broken glass a voice reeking of murder/rain and apocalypse. Rashkin unflinchingly examines the atrocities of the European ghetto of the Middle Passage of a no-womans land. The language is rich muscular and mournful a kaddish for the rest of us that recalls a pain both exotic and hauntingly familiar. Rashkin reminds me that hope is just as close Just behind that distant mountain/must be Jerusalem. The voice is human and generous giving the reader blood of petals . . . . a blessing a goodbye. Atomic Time is an important book for this volatile world.-- Jennifer Martelli author of My Tarantella