The unusual title of his collection aside, Scottish poet Robin Robertson shows an amazing grasp of image and the emotional landscape of the heart, melding the two in page after page of arresting poems as startling and spare as nature, glowing with life, a sensual pageantry that charms and amazes:

The child’s skip
still there in the walk,
a woman’s poise in her slow
examination
of the brightly coloured globe…

Is there anything
more heartbreaking than hope? (“Cusp”)

The sea’s a heavy sleeper,
dreaming in and out with a catch
in each breath, and is not disturbed…

Through the starting rain, the moon
skirrs across the sky dragging
torn shreds of cloud behind. (“What the Horses See at Night”)

White silk
in her hands…
drew me back
to another ocean,
another ravishing…

That moment,
When I found myself
Caught,
Felt myself
Being pulled in. (“Net”)