Lucifer at the Starlite

The section titles in Kim Addonizio's fifth book of poetry follow: "Happy Hour," "Jukebox," "Dance Floor," and "I Am Going to Have to Take Your Keys." While these titles may suggest that the book is a non-stop poetry party, rather, Addonizio relishes in bringing together moments of pleasure and pain, the underside of love and disaster. If this book is a party, then someone is shooting heroin in the bathroom, a national disaster is being watched on TV in the kitchen, and the man and woman making out in the bedroom are both married to other people. Addonizio's honesty is cutting and raw, and what is exposed is vulnerability and the way people use each other to manage their lives. The following lines, from "Forms of Love," illustrate how Addonizio can twist and turn phrases and feelings:

I love you more.
I love you more like a friend.
I love your friends more than you.

This book review originally appeared in American Poets.