Passaic by PaulA Neves 

Passaic is a collection of poems that reflect on the Passaic, an 80-mile long river coursing through prime New Jersey real estate in counties that run the gamut from affluence to working class. Apart from the river’s association with William Carlos Williams’ Patterson and other works, and its prominence in the greater Newark metro area, it is also one of the biggest environmental atrocities in the state—and the country. When I recently mentioned the river to an out-of-state acquaintance, his first response was, “Worst Superfund site in the country, ” which isn’t entirely accurate, but not far off the mark. Williams’ epic was published around the time the toxic assault on the Passaic was reaching its tipping point, and the pollution along its lower half was affecting middle and working class residents, which included immigrants and others from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, many of whom worked in factories or lived in communities along or near its banks, the kinds of communities that have always made New Jersey strong and distinctive, despite our complicated histories. The actual and spiritual descendants of those mid 20th century inhabitants, and of the Lenape long before them who fished peacefully in its once pristine waters, continue to be affected by the Passaic’s destruction, its fitful, politically charged rehabilitation, and the current challenges of climate change and “economic development.” They and the river deserve many poems and songs. This collection offers up some of these, primarily from the perspective of immigrant and first generation Americans—as prayers, laments, even humorous musings—and acknowledges that there is so much more that needs to be remembered—the pains, losses, and joys that galvanize us to be mindful stewards of what we have been given, or what we have taken from those who came before us. Our future depends on it. Rivers, both literal and metaphorical, are deep legacies. The Passaic is a symbol of both New Jersey and America.

“The river that runs through paulA neves’ unforgettable debut collection is at once majestic and toxic, a lifeblood of family, factory work, and more than a few miracles of faith and transformation. Rooted in the Portuguese-American experience of Newark’s Ironbound district, an unlevel playing field of immigrant dreams and early deaths, Passaic is a powerful hymn to place and the people we share it with, if only briefly. Having read its last gorgeous line, I felt not so much like a better person, but a more human human.” 

–Theresa Burns, author of Design and Two Train Town

In this beautifully crafted collection, a resurrected Passaic River returns color and flavor to the long-muted worlds adorning its banks. The places and names in these poems sing to us from long-forgotten memories. Amid all the change the Passaic has seen, this collection reminds us of all the ways “the words will write themselves again,” and expand beyond their immediate geography. 

–Hugo Dos Santos, author of Then, There and translator of A Child in Ruins

Passaic illustrates affection for tenacious immigrant roots like no other with these heartfelt poems that greet us like “a rain of reminiscence and receipts,/ postcards sent from/ the other shore.” After reading this collection, I’m convinced the Passaic River has a water spirit and a poet laureate, and that’s paulA neves.

--Rigoberto González, author of To the Boy Who Was Night"

In these deeply human poems, the accents and grit of Newark and communities along the Passaic River come alive. We hear the unsentimental perspective of a first-generation American daughter who is “riding memory hard.” Teeming with myth, rich with fado, these poems are strong and yearning, authentic and profound. They speak to a restlessness that cannot be quenched—or drowned—by the promises of America. As an immigrant mother on her deathbed remarks, “I thought there’d be more.”

–Olga Livshin, author/translator of A Life Replaced: Poems with Translations from Anna Akhmatova and Vladimir Gandelsman

neves’ poems transcend the generic and move the Luso-American narrative into different spaces, not asking permission for her poems to think and bleed. They create a universe both doubling as reality and dreamscape. A place of created mythos that is ultimately country and home.

– Dimitri Reyes, author of Papi Pichón and Shadow Work for Poets