Collier displays a mastery of images, the brilliant feathers of winged creatures, the chirping song of birds at daybreak, their elegance and majesty in flight, the first poem striking a note that repeats throughout the collection:

“One had feathers like a brood-streaked koi,
another a tail of color-coded wires.
One was a blackbird stretching orchid wings.
Another a flicker with a wounded head.”
              (Birds Appearing in a Dream)

“And now he is reassuring us
that our friend is in
a better place, that God,
too soon, has called him home,
a mystery faith endures.

…he barely stays to finish the job.”
                (The Watch)

“‘It’s only a story,
life doesn’t happen this way.’
But how else did the hair on my arms rise the first

And last time the story was read? And what woke
My sister from her dream where she stood
In a forest, burning, among an alphabet of flames?”
                (Night Story)