This book brings together twenty of Kroetsch's long poems, spanning some of 15 years of creative activity. Remarkably versatile in both form and content, these extended meditations bear witness to Kroetsch's modernist inheritance and his well-known commitment to post-modern jouissance. Whether it be in an evocation of an Australian beach or in an account of the stone hammer used by the poet's father, we find again and again the delight, elusiveness and mastery of everyday language that have become trademarks of the author's oeuvre.