Failure to Thrive

Dumpster fires outside discount stores and rotting whale carcasses; optical illusions and memento mori-all coming to you direct, / by way of this Rube Goldberg machine.'' Failure to Thrive zigzags through excess, taking in the big picture through the lens of a pinhole camera. These poems ask us to lean into our senses, to ''spend time loitering, slipping coins into attention''s slots, / anticipating the next big pay-off.'' Suzannah Showler''s debut shows us how a failing world can be the site of aesthetic renewal rather than decline.''