Poetry. A Brenda Hillman Selection. "Here, the sum of the parts generates'such a brutal equation' that there is little difference between 'the longerlife' and 'the lush line.' Mathias recognizes the 'lush line' was everimplemented not for the sake of beauty, but to counter the fact that mortalinquiry is always fraught with the danger of temporal collapse"--Richard Greenfield.