Driftology

Deborah Bernhardt's Driftology, the 2013 winner of the New Michigan Press/DIAGRAM chapbook contest, is a thrilling linguistic ride. We'd almost say dizzying, since she shifts so quickly between registers and textures, except that the result's more electrified Van Gogh than vertigo. These poems show--and venerate--their seams. Throw a whole lot of smart and lovely in the "Will It Blend" blender, which shows up in one of Bernhardt's poems, and we get this key-shifting chapbook. Needless to say, it's great.