I had the opportunity to take is/2 with me on a vacation to Vancouver Island and I can say that it was a good accompaniment to a telephone-less, television-less cabin overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait.

Let me say that I don't read poetry to admire technique. I'll leave the mechanics to others. I'm just generally trying to get out of a mental rut, to get my right brain in sync with my left, tounkink my mental chi. With that criteria for success in mind, I think I can say that is/2 succeeded. It's probably too much to comment on in a few short paragraphs, but that's all I'm good for. Here goes.

I like the diversity of themes and styles, the imagery, and the wordplay. I found elements of romantic, classic, Ogden Nash, and haiku in the various pieces. Stop me; this is almost getting academic, isn't it? Let's just look at a few that grabbed me on the first read.

Hellhound - "At the solitary heart of everything/ The hummingbird and the Cuckoo King." Kind of Haiku-like in its brevity. I look at that poem in a different way each time I read it. Kind of a Cubist approach, eh?

Monument — Depressing on the face of it ("Nothing much remains"). Yet I get some sense of peace out of it (probably some cosmic sense of what a humble little species we should be…"nothing much," really).

No Poem's Perfect Without An Ampersand — "Feet patting time as I'm lost and…"

Riddle — Way to kick it "old school," meine freunde.

Voice — I like the "sheepskin" punnery and the wordplay. Did Lewis Carroll help you with this?

Fire — Carnal pursuits trump art, eh Mr. Poetaster? Kidding.

A few other first-blush favorites included Entrepreneur's Primer, Self Help, and On The Down Side.

Overall I found the reading very pleasurable and evocative. And from this angle, well worth the "moonlight and cheap wine."

Take care, Dr. Gadfly.
[Bob Boulden, Industrial Shaman, Fort Smith, Arkansas]