Hazel Smith's new poetry collectionengages in a direct way with contemporary political and social issues civilwar and the flight of populations, oppressive regimes and the disappearance ofdissidents, the unpredictable effects of climate change relating these issuesto the personal experience of death and dementia, abuse and disability andchildlessness. The poems project intense psychological states of indecisiveness,anxiety, disorientation and guilt, making use of surreal conjunctions andmetaphor to dramatise the sense of unease. Smith is a new media artist andmusician, and the poems employ a variety of techniques drawn from these fields,flourishes of linguistic coloratura, the evocation of virtual realities,cutting and pasting from the internet, remixing, sampling and quotation, todrive home their effects.