i was invited to view this through my email. interesting book, i enjoyed it. thank you so much to the publisher!

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book

While I really liked two poems (Evergreen and Reprise) as a whole I didn't feel like this was particularly memorable. I wouldn't say no to reading more by the author, but I'm not too fussed.

Thank you NetGalley and Sunrise press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short collection of poems. There were several poems that I liked, particularly the Red Light, Green Light ones, as they gave the feeling of stopping to take in your surroundings before rushing off again towards your goal, sort of like when you’re playing the game. There was also lots of nature imagery and commentary on politics and the current state of the world.

I didn’t connect a whole lot with many of these poems, but poetry is highly subjective and other readers might connect more than I did.

I did really like the structure of the one near the end that looked like a dragon or snake on the page, that was really cool.

A collection of stellar poems, fumbled by a disrespectful title choice

*Edit 3/28/2025: The press team emailed me to say they agree the title comes off as cultural misappropriation. They said the acknowledgments will be changed to reflect the poet's connection and respect for Chinese culture. I still think it'd make more sense for the poems themselves to reflect cultural appreciation if this is the collection title, but I look forward to seeing the acknowledgment edits.


This collection of poetry is an absolutely stunning repository of daily life. It uses striking nature imagery and sensory details. I was especially impressed by the formatting of the poems. I don't think I've ever seen creative poetry formatting add so much to the impact of the poems themselves. Reading the poems was a full-on Experience, and I can see myself coming back to them time and time again, the way I relisten to my favorite songs.

My biggest qualm with this collection is the title. The Chinese zodiac and dragons in particular are important cultural symbols in many Asian countries. As an Asian person myself, I became incensed when I realized that the collection had nothing to do with Asian culture at all. The only mention of the dragon is in the same-titled last poem, and nothing about what dragons represent in Asian cultures was included. In the acknowledgments, the poet says the collection title was chosen because all the poems were written during 2024 (year of the dragon) and the poet was also born on a dragon year. Those are superficial reasons to choose a cultural symbol as a title. Plus, the poet appears to be white, so it feels like another instance of whitewashing a POC cultural symbol.

I'm quite torn by this collection because I am deeply frustrated by the title, but the poems themselves are so undeniably wonderful that I can't help but want to share them with all my friends.

Do you see geese flying and realize one group is flying left and one group is flying right, but they’re all going to the same destination? These are deep thinking poems. Some are short. Some are long. They all make you ponder life. Worth the read. Whether you read a page a day or a poem a day, these poems will make you stop, think, and evaluate how you look at life. You will relate to these even if you don’t enjoy poetry. Simple words to make you think deeper. Clear and concise poems. Second book of poems by this author.