DO NOT FORSAKE ME by Alec Solomita

There is an intimacy in the title of this poetry book that reflects all that is going on between covers. What is going on are poems about loss: of memories, time, love, and the simple everyday most of us take for granted. Tracing the day by day, those innocuous little moments, poet Alec Solomita is paying homage to his beloved who is deteriorating from an incurable disease. These poems are serious and sad, rolling out slowly and softly. They are also sometimes playful, as the mind can be playful even during disaster. This humane book resonated deeply with me.

–Susan Tepper, author of ‘dear Petrov and ‘The Merrill Diaries.’

Alec Solomita is one of our most mellifluous, vigorous, witty, and truth-loving poets. His work reveals a spirited dexterity with form and a crisp, clear voice. He is like no one else in his refined sarcastic mode. He pokes fun at both himself and society, but betrays his vulnerability when speaking of those whom this poet has loved or lost. He can both sing in meter and converse in free verse, of things both small and big, a whole universe of them.

–Katia Kapovich , The work of bilingual Russian poet Katia Kapovich has been celebrated in both her native and adopted countries. She has won two Russian National Literary Awards and received the US Library of Congress Witter Bynner Fellowship. Her two books in English are Gogol in Rome (2004) and Cossacks and Bandits (2008).