From the moment you read Barbara DiMauro's opening poem, "The Swamp Queen," you know you will experience a book vivid in its exploration of human relationships-to Nature, to each other, to the world around us, and to our interior selves. Some poems relate direct encounters such as meeting a bear in the woods or observing party-goers. Others are personal meditations, political commentary, dream sequences, or journeys into the ways of love. Always the poems are both accessible and original, moving from joy to sorrow and back to joy. This is a book to read over and over.