What is the language of the streets, of the unhoused millions who inhabit them? As a poet and an activist/advocate for the houseless, Mimi German has written poems that tell the stories of the unseen. Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars is a lyrical force as it translates the language of suffering, trauma, addiction, sorrow, love, and the fires of life & death. These poems are filled with a language you might not readily recognize-In the staccato breaks of thought and phrases that carry multiple meanings-to reveal the hidden, the underworld, and the shadows of the heart.

"These brief poems reverberate beyond what is on the page, giving readers much to think on and feel long after the final page. Stunning music is scattered throughout all of these poems." -Lisa Kwong, guest editor for The Hopper Poetry Prize "These [poems] are beautiful and fierce and real." -Steve Silberman, author of Neurotribes, TA for Allen Ginsberg