With a characteristic use of vernacular and an active application of his senses as he encounters the world around him, New Zealand Poet Laureate Vincent O'Sullivan produces intensely personal poems in this collection. For all that they brim with insight, however, the poems also concern themselves with larger themes of philosophical curiosity, religion, and mortality. And though the verses frequently employ iambic pentameter, they rise above the level of poetical exercises, offering humour and narrative.