me begin with this disclosure: I've been a fan of Ms. McHugh's poetry since we went to high school together. In fact, we were both in the same 12th grade AP English class. From the beginning, Heather stuck me as fascinated with all aspects of words - their sounds and meanings but also how they shape our thoughts and perceptions as well as signify them.

In Hinge & Sign, I see that she's still fascinated with words but over the years she's learned to use them not just to dazzle us with her command of them but also to gently and sometimes wittily explore the same issues that have preoccupied so many great poets before her - the meaning of human life and its place in Creation. But Heather never pontificates. Instead, she gently probes among everyday thoughts and situations to find at least fragments of answers to some of our biggest questions. Indeed, her probing can be so gentle that it comes close to being over-powered by the magic tricks that she performs with language. But even when that occurs, the magic alone is worth the show. ( )

Selected poems from poet Heather McHugh's work. ( )

Heather McHugh does fascinating things with language. ( )