Inhervertiginoussecondcollection,ZoëHitzigdeliversanastonishingactofventriloquyinreverse–speakingnotthroughthevoiceofasingular,lyric“I,”butthroughaconsciousnessthatseemstohaveamasseditselfoutofthedetritusofhumanlife.ThefutureworldofNotUsNowisrememberedinanevenfurtherfuture,wherelanguageisboththesurvivorandthecargoofanearthlywreckage.Crushedundertheweightofcollectionandstorage,whatremainsarethoserecordsofhumancuriosity,habit,andlongingwhichhaveincreasinglyformedtheinformationeconomiesofthepresent.Whatarewedoingtolanguageandourselvesasweextractmoreandmorematerialforquestionableoptimization?Whatwilltheappetiteofacontrolled,controllingpublicerodefromtheprivate?Acrossaseriesofelliptical,siren-likepoemsandsequences,Hitzigperformsanurgentlyricintervention,recoveringdefiancefromouraccumulatingraw-datafootprints.Withequalmeasuresofmethodandentropy,NotUsNowpresentsthechoruswearehurtlingtoward,ourownvoicesinthefutureissuingapleaforanewcourse.ZoëHitzigistheauthoroftwobooksofpoetry,Mezzanine(Ecco,2020)andNotUsNow,winneroftheChangesBookPrize(Changes,2024).ShecurrentlyservesaspoetryeditorofTheDrift.“Therewasnoneedtodreamit;IcouldfeelmyorganicmachinetakingineachofZoëHitzig’sremarkablepoems