The cover photograph is of a palace which looks like a prison. The images are predominantly of death, putrefaction, starvation, and "unrestrained slaughter." They country is a vast cemetery where the Dark Forces prevail. The poet's purpose "is the poetry of resurrection." The poems would be narrowly "political" if the images and metaphors were not universal and descriptive of the human condition everywhere - only heightened in this one country and at this one time. The faces of these starving, misshapen children were everywhere as the media showed us the horrifying conditions perpetrated in Romania by the despotic, decadent rule of Ceausescu.

      The last poem is of a wedding feast featuring a cornucopia of rich, spicy food with every dish imaginable displayed and with the open invitation to come and partake - especially invited are the children so used to "gruel and weak tea."

      The poems are accessible, powerful and would suit high school students in English courses or creative writing courses. They could also be used in Social Studies courses dealing with modern, European history - they give voice to the anguish of politics gone wrong.

Recommended.