Perilous Delight collects poems that celebrate the joy of finding the "right words" to hold an idea to the light. In the collection are also poems that show the perils writers face - the self-doubt, the dead ends, the realization that a poem once showing promise just can't find its legs. The author contends that delight and peril in fact work together to sharpen the writer's eye, fine tune the writer's ear, and keep the writer alert to ways in which poems enlighten her or his life experience.