Brian Young is the creator of powerful, sometimes harsh poems that combine outrage with lyricism, brooding melancholy with rich, sensual, even playful language. Young’s work is difficult, in the sense that it rejects reductive prettiness, and at times threatening and full of moral anger against whatever is toxic in our environment and our culture. Yet it is never less than compelling in the wealth of its imagery and the force of Young’s original voice. This is poetry for a new millennium, poetry that dares to look at what is ugly and frightening in our contemporary world, while still acknowledging the powerful consolations of language, hope, and love.