Selected Poems

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Selected Poemsis unabashedly musical, image-rich and ambitious; poems of the natural world, childhood, family, deathand the pleasures and rigours of art lead into ever-deeper explorations of history, society and middle age, but the faith in the power of language to convey something essential about life remains consistent. This is a book whose pages are viscerally alive with concrete, physical sensations; you can hear the seagulls, smell the wet cedar and brine, and see the sun sink on the great salmon runs with "the clunk of a cue ball." Bowling's particular ability to make his place come alive and to transfer that vitality into a variety of other subjects, from book collecting to beekeeping, has been celebrated throughout his career. (From Nightwood Editions)