Lean Against This Late Hour

Starred review from April 1, 2020

Accompanied by the Persian originals, this first English-language collection of the renowned Iranian poet's work comprises 51 sinewy lyrics that evoke a hypnagogic state of consciousness at once ghostly and immediate. "Who has dislocated the world?" he asks, acknowledging the fraying bond between human sensibility and human actions ("I can feel/ how the person who isn't/ overwhelms/ the person who is"). A lifelong witness to war and oppression in his homeland, Abdolmalekian perceives the constant presence of a dissembling, malevolent force as elemental as air ("life/ which enters from a hidden door every night/ with a dull knife") yet somehow finds glimmers of beauty and hope among the shadows: "When you are translucent, / the sky appears in you." VERDICT Like Federico Garc�a Lorca, an acknowledged influence, Abdolmalekian merges the personal with the political in a semisurreal poetry of troubled nights and harrowing days, exposing the fear and vulnerability we bury with denial, daring to pose the question, "How many times are we born/ that we die/ so many times?" An impressive U.S. debut for a poet whose work invites global recognition.--Fred Muratori, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2020
This dazzling collection of poems, the first to appear in English by Iranian author Abdolmalekian, explores disparate yet intertwined topics of nature, politics, and personal relationships with humor, candor, and awe. The tight verses come alive with effectively simple metaphors ("a delight / like igniting a cigarette with the sun"), viscerally stunning images ("The Earth / is a severed head / rotating in midair"), and carefully critical lyrics ("We ought to accept / that no soldier / has every returned / from war / alive"). The collection is comprised of remarkably short poems, especially the "Long Exposure" and "Pattern" series, consisting of seven poems apiece, each individual entry no longer than a haiku, equally as concise and evocative. "Pattern V" conjures an entire narrative arc in 11 quick syllables: "In the dark / a burglar / stares at the painting." In this bilingual edition, the poems appear in their original Arabic right-justified (to be read right-to-left), with the English translations mirrored on facing pages, and the resulting symmetry adds a sense of deft completion, like a silk ribbon on a carefully wrapped gift. Absolutely worth reading for poetry devotees and novices alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)