Poetry. California Interest. Women's Studies. Film. THE LIVING AIR by Masiela Lusha is an exceptional book of poems. Her works are based on formal associations, which open a unique poetic vein. Multilayered images arise in which the fragility and instability of our seemingly certain reality is questioned. By applying a poetic and often metaphorical language, her work references romanticism and symbolism, her poems want to amplify the astonishment of the spectator by creating compositions or settings that generate tranquil poetic images that leave traces and balances on the edge of recognition and alienation. --Geoffrey Gatza When I discovered Masiela Lusha's impressive list of accomplishments in the cinematic arts, I have to say I was not surprised in the least. Ms. Lusha's poems skillfully dramatize the most ethereal of philosophical ideas, showing us what's at stake as we 'stalk the truth.' This book will invite you in, then 'release you as a learner, ' subtly illuminating through its performative poetics what questions we should be asking of the world around us. --Kristina Marie Darling 'We stalk the truth / As poets, ' writes Masiela Lusha, in what could stand as the manifesto for this remarkable book. Authoritative yet tender, sensitive yet austere and controlled, these poems in their varying stances explore truth after truth. Keats, Donne, Homer and parable all suggest themselves, yet the voice is always distinctly Masiela Lusha's, a formidable talent in contemporary American poetry. --Roger Craik Masiela Lusha's poems are missives from inner space -- heartfelt, evocative lyrics of immediate presence. 'A poet is a lonely collector, ' Lusha writes, inviting readers to walk with her 'Where the streets are thin / And the world is tight around me.' THE LIVING AIR is alive with 'alphabets of experience' that celebrate the journey of our lonely (and necessary) collecting. --Tony Trigilio