The poems in Terry Blackhawk's first collection of poetry enable the reader to enter a realm that is prelinguistic, where self dissolves and sight and sound, nature and identity, intermingle. The paradox inherent in these poems is that the poet's precise use of language, of imagery, of metaphor expresses a physical, sensual celebration of life and loss. Blackhawk frequently makes use of myth to show how the animal within us moves in and with the natural world.