Love and Other Poems
Alex Dimitrov
Reviewed by Hiba Tahir
Alex Dimitrov’s third book, Love and Other Poems, is a remarkable study in hope at a time when hope might be in short supply.
Dimitrov, the Pushcart Prize-winning co-founder of the popular astrology Twitter account “Astro Poets” (@poetastrologers), explores ubiquitous themes—loneliness, death, and love—in this collection. What sets it apart is the matter-of-fact speaker, a Frank O’Hara-invoking New York City enthusiast who isn’t afraid to bare it all.
After all, as he writes in “July,” “I decided to stay a poet long ago, / I know what I’m in for.”
Though the overarching structure, with its chronological seasonal titles, might indicate a commitment to the mundane hallmarks of a single year, the collection encompasses so much more than that.
Dimitrov explores everything from the moon landing to the Pulse Orlando shooting, and somehow manages to squeeze an expansive litany of love—the eponymous (and aptly titled) list poem “Love”—in between.
Anyone would want to befriend this alternately hilarious and heartbreaking speaker, who in grad school would “write a poem and immediately / send it to the New Yorker / feeling entirely justified / because why wouldn’t they want it” and who regularly converses with, and gets cursed out by, the moon. In spite of its painful moments of deep despair, the collection ultimately lands on hope.