A book of poetry meant to conjure the future while nourishing the present, Julie Poole’s second collection is inspired by movement within the Texan cityscape.

Written from 2016-2017 during a taut political moment, Gorgeous Freak follows Poole’s decision to start keeping a poetry journal while commuting by foot around Austin. Her intent, folded carefully in these slender and jagged poems, is to call out to a future soulmate, pulling them back into her present: hot, humid Austin, Texas, in the first year of the Trump presidency, traversed by foot miles a day, watching the seasons change through surrounding urban flora and fauna.