Salvage

“Delightfully spiteful. . . . Choi’s voice has the defiant confidence of youth, which we all need exposure to. The poems are a little bit insulting . . . in the most appealing way, like an argument that actually changes your mind.”— New York Times, Best Poetry of 2025

Part blasphemous prayer, part stand-up comedy, wholly unique, this breathtaking collection is by turns devastating, funny, and startling. Whether the site of exploration is Star Trek, Leonard Cohen, roadkill, or etymology, sublime bewilderment rubs shoulders with half-buried humiliations and accidental salvations. The voice in these poems tenderly and tenaciously inquires into how to survive—not how to survive violence but how to survive surviving. Choi is the rare poet who can elicit laughter, sober reflection, and wry bemusement all within the space of a few lines—or sometimes only one. This is a collection that you can read through in a single sitting, then return to again and again.