The temperature of this water

by Ishle Yi Park

The author samples the climates of New York and Korea to present an unflinching, meticulously detailed view of lives cracked open as much by love as they are by overwork, violence, and racism. Sharp street wit and sensual attention to detail give vivid, palpable form to the lovers and criminals, mothers and gangsters who live behind the closed doors of New York immigrant life. Within each poem lives a story; within each story lies a whole community waiting to be uncovered. Whether tracing the path of prisoners meeting girlfriends or Korean comfort women or .44s shot from rooftops in Brooklyn, Park's passion and uncompromising honesty lays bare the ruined heart of a city still pulsing with light. -- from the back cover.