In the Arbor

The movement at the center of so many of these poems is that of air, fire, water, night–of what cannot be seen, even as the speaker moves ever inward to face her own dreams, her demons and her desires. The strong central poem, ‘After the Rape, ’ defines the moment from which the poet must measure the world. That she finds in the memory of a dolphin rising into air is the magic of Nancy Kuhl’s collection. -Judith Kitchen