I don’t remember how I found this book, but I got it while I was in grad school renting a tiny room in Elizabeth with no heater. It’s a great little book of poems. The Village Square tells the story of a woman who moves from the suburbs in New Jersey to the Village in NYC, where she is free to explore the ways of the world. She meets new, interesting people and also runs into versions of her old self. On Sunday’s, she visits her parents in Irvington for dinner. But throughout the week, she has endless access to drugs and sex (both of which she declines), she runs around the city shopping and dating, and she eventually falls in love with someone who loves her back.

Best line: “I am still saying no but I am saying it better.”

-Rachel Wagner 2021