"Examen" is a full examination of a poet's life, whether the poems probe metaphysical questions with specific memories, observe the natural world in changing seasons, or record the twists and turns of a brain with dementia or a body with cancer. Susan Sink's work is clear and accessible, and also richly layered. Throughout the book, the poems draw on or reflect the work of other poets, revealing a life spent reading and observing the world through poetry and using poetics to shape shape the events of her own poetry to speak to others.