If there are two words I can use to describe these poems, they would be primal and visceral. If you’re a little squeamish around guts, bones, and the likes, this collection might not be for you, since they’re particular foci in Johnson’s work. There are some fascinating contrasts throughout this collection ranging from beauty and violence, light and dark, among others. The words found in these poems were haunting and engraved themselves onto bodies—human and otherwise—to create distinct images in the reader’s mind. Johnson really has a way with words that I found, at times, chilling.

Some favorites: “Deer Rub,” “Rapture,” “Frühlingstraum,” “Elegy Surrounded by Water,” “Let Us Consider Where We Might Have a Home,” and “How the World Was Made”