New poems by Norbert Hummelt, one of the most important lyric poets of our time. Hummelt explores moments in which the vulnerability of relationships and of our world itself is revealed. The author is the recipient of the Hölty Prize, Germany's most prestigious poetry prize. It can happen to anyone, suddenly, that certainties crumble and there's no safety net in sight, especially in Berlin, the "teeming city, city full of dreams, where in broad daylight the ghost haunts the passerby." Norbert Hummelt's new poems poignantly explore the feeling of being exposed. They explore moments that reveal the vulnerability of our lives: the separation between father and daughter, memories of parents, and the endangerment of nature. These are verses that resonate from a vast literary sphere, from Dante to Pound and Eliot. Verses that prompt reflection, which Norbert Hummelt masters with a palpable ease. And in the end, a new love even emerges as a utopian place: "Can we flee here, where the rosehips glow and / the jackdaws circle?" Biography: Norbert Hummelt, born in 1962, lives near Cologne. He currently teaches at the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig. New product