Part-lyric, part-narrative, part-novella in verse, these poems never stray far from their passionate appetite for life, fear of the unknown, and the titanic thrill and mystery of love. Many of these poems deal with the subtle realities of cancer diagnosis, chemo, the trance states of illness, the "wait and see," the "opposite oceans" of waking and dreaming, and the life-defining clarity the threat of death sharpens. With life's visible stuff blurring the invisible, still, love - ancient, un-prescribed, redeeming, intuitive - lights up the unseen. Al Young - California poet laureate (2005-2008)