Nebulous Vertigo, a debut collection of poems from Belle Ling, is a gentle whirl of undulations inviting us into a transcendent realm. The realm, both visceral and vibrant, is mysteriously familiar. If you come close to it, you will hear how rains eat, how a silken tofu revolts, how the Chinese word of “beans” turns into a speaking persona, and how a telephone bridges the surviving and the afterlife. The everyday life, in Nebulous Vertigo, is inevitably lost to the inevitable fate. And yet–with unexpected quivers, our fate and life keep surprising us, so we need to stay moving “unless pushed or pulled.” Travelling through the cha chann teng in Hong Kong, you can hear how Mrs. Suen, Mr. Yuen, and Waiter Kuen carry out intriguing conversations; astounded by the night sky in Paris, you will see how constellations narrate the lovers’ quirky destiny; and all way through the Sayama Hills in Tokorozawa, you will be surprised by the turnings and upturnings of the myths told by a Japanese Uncle. Nebulous Vertigo, as its title beckons, “sighs an unreal cloud / for the fated sun to rise.” If fate can never be changed, how can we embrace its weaving? Every attempt, as the poems suggest, can be calmingly adventurous, unobvious yet magnanimous.