This work is shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Prize 2006. Roger Moulson's debut collection, a "Poetry Book Society Recommendation", heralds the arrival of a refreshingly original voice in contemporary poetry. Dressed in simple language, the poems travel to a range of times and places to look for the power in all things and, beyond, to the loss of that power. In the landscapes that Moulson imagines or revisits, rivers, seas, stones, urban detritus and people seem filled with longing. Their voices alternate between dogmatic statement, restraint and song. At times, this leads to masterfully controlled slapstick, at others to breathtaking lyricism.