In this masterful work by award-winning poet David Zieroth, a man opens his apartment door to find a younger version of himself. The boy becomes his guide on a profound journey from 21st-century urban Vancouver to the 1950s Canadian prairies and back again. Along the way, time slides magically back and forth between the speaker’s contemporary existence and his rural childhood life.

Zieroth’s language resonates with a strong cadence and rhythm, becoming almost hypnotic as it weaves back and forth through time and around subjects as diverse as the endless dark of the snow and the inexplicable way we learn from the children we once were and the adults we are becoming. The Village of Sliding Time, a marvellously achieved addition to Zieroth’s work, is a major contribution to the long poem in Canada.