Amor vincit omnia: So the proverb goes. In Nin’s Poem Shelby Stephenson dramatizes the truth that love conquers all in a compelling cascade of monologues, dialogues, and appeals to the powers of nature. The trials of illness- I am oppressed by the weight of affliction rooted in the air -can strengthen the hope for hope. Someday, / our world shall fall into place. The lyrical pages demonstrate the triumph of tenacity. -Fred Chappell, winner of the Bollingen Prize in Poetry