"Through two long poems, Jesâus Castillo's TWO MURALS explores the personal and political sides of love, selfhood, and transformation in a wasteful age. "Variations on Adonis," the first sequence, is filled with music and memorable images, evoking the decline of civilization alongside a desire to live. The second sequence, "A Mural After Darwish," is a love letter to a woman, to nature, and to memory. Castillo's visions span the landscapes of different countries and ages, always questioning and curious. Abundance and destruction are placed side by side in his consideration of language, life, and death. TWO MURALS offers the reader urgent views of love and perseverance despite the traps of the past and the uncertainty of our future." --