With imagery that is by turns sensuous and rough-hewn, the poems of this collection crackle with energy-they are poems of compassion that demand attention. The poetic landscapes frequent the windswept coasts of Scotland, but inevitably return to Canada, celebrating all manner of the Canadian heartland's hazards and risks through details of snowshoeing, surveying, and chopping wood. Although deeply personal and intensely emotional, the poems present relationships and connections that have a universal resonance, whether while grieving or ranting or glorifying. The poems represent a philosophical poet with a restless soul who is not afraid to ask big questions.