MILLENNIAL ROOST

<p>Humor and terror bind themselves to one another in this wonderfully odd debut by Dustin Pearson. As much as these poems are anxious and anguished-Make them describe it end to end-they are also tender and redemptive-I've been waiting for you/and this closeness we wouldn't abuse. But <em>Millennial Roost </em>is never apologetic in its truth-telling or its disappointment at a world that goes on once such awful truths are told. How do we live through (and live on!) after violation? Pearson's surrealist vision is itself a metaphor for the lie that physical resilience saves us from mental anguish. This is a beautifully necessary book.</p><p>-Jericho Brown author of <em>The New Testament</em></p>