rock flight

This urgent debut from Hourani spotlights Palestine’s struggle for liberation through a book-length poem interwoven with personal history. Hourani grapples with how to find adequate language to confront histories of occupation and genocide: “the more time i spend with words/ the more i realize that they just won’t do.” Amid this seemingly impossible poetic task, formal inventiveness shines; the book borrows from the language of dictionary definitions, multiple choice questions, and instruction manuals, creating an interactive—and haunting—experience. In one section, Hourani posits “questions,” which reverberate unanswered: “13. how to get rid of a body/ a. turn it into something else/ i. by declaring that it isn’t one/ b. delete it.” Elsewhere, Hourani draws from bird migration patterns, reminding readers that the ecological is inextricable from the geopolitical: “it is about the earth. it has always been about the earth.” Ultimately, the reader must face the fragility of the body: “i am in a fleshy/ circle; i shed the fleshy circle; i notice a papery film closing in/ on me; i am being shellpacked again.” Hourani’s impressive and expansive poems strike a chord. (Apr.)