In an era in which North American poetry has become increasingly the poetry of private experience and experiment, it is stunning to realize that we have among us a poet of tremendous public power and importance. This extensive sample of the narrative and lyrical work of one of Canada's foremost poets is filled with passionate regard for the threatened beauty of the natural world, the lives of ordinary beings of every species and character, and for the love that is our best hope for peace. Tom Wayman has been awarded the Canadian Authors' Association medal for poetry, the A.J.M. Smith Prize for distinguished achievement in Canadian poetry, and first prize in the USA Bicentennial Poetry Awards competition.