Ó Loideáin Rochelle’s poems are vigorously Boston-Irish- Catholic, steeped in tragedy and wit. She embraces poetic form and romance and renounces the commonplace. On the Brink of the Sea reverberates with life, wonder, and a call to service. It crosses over our neat American borders into 21st century war and epidemic, plumbs a harsh and sometimes tragic childhood and comes up rich with dark humor and faith. This is a rare and tender and transformative book.—KATHLEEN FLENNIKEN, author of Plume