This Old Man Reclines on the Field of Heaven

These poems speak plainly about common matters: how apples look hanging on a tree in winter, or how white buildings seem to haunt a traveller driving through Saskatchewan. Their range of tones, though, is uncommonly wide—celebratory for a young farmer and his horse strutting around a country fair show ring, ironically regretful for a father’s bungled death, or raucous for the last Toronto performance of the great fan-dancer, Sally Rand. A sure command of language and brilliantly crafted lines keep these poems close to our shared lives.