Erratic Sleep in a Cold Hotel

In this collection of 46 poems, Marie Kazalia, whose work has been described as "hellmouth candids," offers a vivid reality of a disengaged life through sometimes disturbing yet intriguing images of a woman immersed in the urban struggle, faced with compromising accommodations in run down hotels in San Francisco's Mission District, encounters with street derelicts, homelessness and her own sense of sexuality. The poems capture with poignant vitality the observations of the author as she readjusts to American life on her return to San Francisco from 4 years as an expatriate in the Orient. Like black and white photography these confessional poems explore, without contradiction, the reclusive and sacred, elements akin to the struggling class. They will draw you into a world that is frighteningly beautiful and deeply personal.