“[These are] poems that are profound in their pictographic precision. Arnoult explores the temporalities of existence, of love and relationships, the physical body and the aging process, but also whispers into these frustrations an underlying breath of hope.”

““Reading Darnell Arnoult’s Galaxie Wagon is like riding in the passenger seat of some grand old American car, transfixed by the scenery, unconcerned with the destination, and so delighted even more by the beauty and strangeness of where you arrive. This book is a trip worth taking, one that leads deep into the past and its characters, and out into the ether, the abstract realms where the imagination sculpts its figures. Arnoult is a poet with equal gifts of narrative and imagery, and in Galaxie Wagon, you know you are traveling in the company of a great storyteller. Once you have met the man-wrestling gorilla, the aged fortune-teller, the dashing and kind-hearted father, the troubled but loving mother, and the ad-writing Cowboy, you will never forget them.”

“An absorbing and exultant book of true poetry. Whereas the frailties and strains of life are the primary subject matter, the poems in this collection are determined to arrive at love and grace. Such heights are made evident by the resonant images and precise phrasings that ring like bells on every page. Art is the highest human endeavor, courageous and singular, an implicit investment in hope. This is a book that speaks for the art of being alive in this world and the worth of that great art. Here we have a book of wisdom, a book of beauty.”

“If you covet speed and yearning, then ride shotgun with Darnell Arnoult behind the wheel of Galaxie Wagon, her unforgettable new volume of poems. The conversation is stunning, sacramental, even in the plummets and hairpin turns. She not only invests in language but devours it, returning it on the page like canon law, forged in the fiery writ of her ever-channeled ancestors and her unrivaled wit and passion. As she declares in the poem, ‘Fire,’ ‘words / glowed brighter and brighter, carnival-colored embers throbbing on our / unquenchable tongues.’ Shield your eyes and buckle up. Arnoult is a practiced, elegant driver, but her light is often blinding.”