Chronicle of Drifting

Chronicle of Driftingenacts a restless quest for belonging, interweaving dreamlike imagery and Japanese lyricismYuki Tanakas stunning debut, Chronicle of Drifting, explores rootlessness, its beauty and perils. Tanakas restless imagination roams among places and personaea village mermaid, a geisha in the Midwest, a flneur in Tokyosearching for a permanent self and a sense of community. In the feverish world of these poems, inspired by the Japanese tradition of tanka and haiku, as well as by timeless surrealism, one meets a light-lashed horse, an imaginary chauffeur, an out-of-business psychic, a girl who skewers a fish with a flower stalk. In poems ranging from lyric to prose, Tanaka creates a poignant dreamlike realm where the inner and outer worlds, the self and others, mergelike the train passenger who, looking out the window and seeing the sky through his reflection, feels empty, a blue outline.