[close] In Paisley Rekdalís second book of poems, all the flavors of oneís expectations, every conceivable misconception and desire, each relationship, loss, and spectacle are brought forth naturally, as though they had simply stepped from behind some trees. The poems frequently find themselves standing in Japanese block prints, or in Delos, or before a painting by Caravaggio, or inside the tale of Atalanta and Meleager.

Rekdalís is a poetry of enormous subtlety and grace, but shocking in its directness, its refusal to obscure or deny the difficult life to which self-knowledge must bring us. It is a poetry born not of mere technique, but of the unrelenting necessity to know and then to speak. All readers of contemporary poetry will want to hear this voice. [close]