The poems in Like the O in Hope take the reader on a journey, a quest from dark to light–both literally and spiritually. Beginning with hesitation and humility, Jeanne Julian transports us toward transcendence. As an accomplished poet, she weaves a myriad of poetic form from traditional to modern free verse, from sestina to chant, stopping to enjoy some lighter fare along the way: bemoaning a neighbor’s back-yard beacon; going AWOL from a boring seminar; even deliberately mistranslating directives from dictators to render them harmless. Gradually, revelations about the magic of place and of connection lead to contentment and even enlightenment and ends with a poem revealing how love can feel transcendent even with recognition of the finite.