Poetry. Italian American. What a pleasure it is to read these unadorned yet carefully observed poems by Matthew Cariello. TALK wages a lyrical conversation with the self, the everyday, and the natural world where hard-won realizations are in perfect balance with a nature that becomes primal because it is so effortlessly welcomed. There are no easy epiphanies, or grandiose posturing here, instead we gain insight from an integrated narrative impulse that subtly engages and delights. The birch tree, the fig trees, pigeons, and swallows, a walk to a delicatessen, trips to an old bookstore, and even an otherworldly shovel emerge as emblems without sacrificing their utility and order in the poet’s refined imaginary.–Peter Covino