These poems range from the highly literary (“On Parnassus with My Post-Coital Cigarette.”) to the highly personal (“Traveler”). Included are poems on feminism, postmodernism, poetry, President Clinton, modern society, hedonism, sadomasochism, homosexuality, 9-11, and Jesus Christ. One poem responds to Kipling; the next calls you to imagine the process of biological evolution through the consciousnesses of the creatures involved. Other poems address Ezra Pound, Charles Bukowski, and The Waste Land -- often followed by bold intellectual observations that leave the reader both laughing and contemplating.

As a girl, Irene begged on the streets for food. When she married a rich Japanese businessman, she thought her life complete. But when she and her life are brutalized, her refusal to surrender begins a journey that will lead her to Japan and to become an assassin so ruthless that gangsters the world over speak of her in whispers.