Library Journal 131.8 Published: May 1, 2006 Book Review By Karla Huston In this newest volume of poems, Jackson (Leaving Saturn) takes aim with a series of free throws, exploring his North Philadelphia roots as he explodes over the urban landscapes of bars and oddities, basketball and poets, good friends and lost souls. A mixture of elevated diction and street language, Jackson's words inhabit "a paradise of kale/ and shakes root-dirt that snaps like a shadow lost in time." Often using rhymed accentuated verse, his lines seem to throb and pulse with the rhythms of the city and the game: "By a falling, Cyclone chain- / link fence, a black rush streaks/for netted hoops, & one alone / from a distance breaks / above the undulant pack. . . ." Two-thirds of the book comprises a series of poems, "Letters to [Gwendolyn] Brooks," written in rime royal, in which the poet offers his ideas of writing, musings of politics, and other philosophies, directing his thoughts to her in pieces arranged by neighborhoods, subway stops along the way. He and a friend believe that Brooks would want to be remembered in verse: "Not out for the epic, I want a vault / For my verbal wealth. I want a form / For my lyrical stealth." Jackson reminds readers that even in the decay of the city, there is much to see, to remember, much to appreciate. Recommended for contemporary poetry and African American literature collections. —Karla Huston, Appleton Art Cir., WI.