<DIV><p><br>“Chris Abani’s poetry resonates with a devastating beauty which cuts through to the heart of human strength.”—<I>Pride</I></p> <I> </I><p><br> <I>Hands Washing Water</I> is Chris Abani's fourth poetry collection—a mischievous book of displacement, exile, ancestry, and subversive humor. The central section, “Buffalo Women,” is a Civil War correspondence between lovers that plays on our assumptions about war, gender, morality, and politics.</p><p><br> <I>Sweetest Henri,</I><br> <I>I know we promised to be honest,</I><br> <I>one to the other, but your recent missive,</I><br> <I>though welcome as any epistle from you,</I><br> <I>filled me with a dread that clung</I><br> <I>like dampness to wet wood. I am terrified</I><br> <I>for your immortal soul, dear sweet Henri.</I><br> <I>This mad war of Lincoln is infecting you</I><br> <I>with a sickness too depraved to even address. . .</I></p><p>Abani’s writing is ruthless, at times traumatic, and consistently filled with surprising twists and turns.</p></DIV>