Reflecting on man's relation to and responsibilities toward nature, this collection of poems takes up the themes of human sexuality and consciousness. The poet also muses on art, technology, romantic and marital desire, and the stubborn longing for transcendence.

AcknowledgmentsThe Place Summer October Lingering The Waiting Eggplant Leaving The Pond Embellishings Listening Loon Calls November DawnOwl Reflections The Watcher and the Hawk Snow Rise Storm Midwinter Thaw Betrayal Fox Wound The Wall Spring Returns Silence Circle The Merging Her Shoes Reunion Turtles Only in Zoos The Sea Laughter Night Swim Beyond Forgetting Homeward Minding the Sun Observer Hummingbird The Human Eye Rooting for Pleasure Panegyric for a Cockroach The Troll beneath the BridgeThe Loss of Estrus Lament of the Male GameteFalling Away Curing Sleep The Empty Throne Autumn Berries Within Measure The Drake Equation The Barber of Civility Witzelsucht Bonkers My Distant Friend Determination Picnic with Paradox Elegy to the Sun The Trees Will Die