This collection highlights Elizabeth's work, holding it upto the light from multiple angles. It proves her a master of form, from the common ballad and well-known sonnet to the intricatevillanelle and deceptively simple prose poem. It demonstratesher mastery of imagery, like the chaplain in "The Poltergeist ofPolaris," who says, "My rosary of habitable planets / Clackedaround my spacesuit, / Spiral galaxy dangling from / The end."You will find here all the classic tropes science fiction: If this goes on, in "Countdown"; if only we could, in "A Spacer'sLullaby"; and yes, we will, in "Judas Rising." You will alsofind the universal themes of literature: the indomitable will, in"Resolutions"; love of money is the root of all evil, in "The Stringof Beads"; and love, showing different aspects in "Star Orphan"and "Not For Me."
Each poem in this collection can stand alone. But theyalso seem, at times, to be paired - sometimes next to each other, sometimes separated by distance but entangled like paired quarks, where reading one changes the meaning of another. Some of thepairs the I found include "Space Evaders" and "The ClaspingOf Hands," "Flying With Old Friends" and "Uprising," and"What Radiant Light" and "Theoretical Properties." I have nodoubt that you will find different pairs, because the observationdepends as much upon the observer as upon the observed.
-Janet D. Miles, CPS/CAP
