Poetry. Wendy Barker's poems pull us into their richly tender spheres almost magnetically. The elements of life at home and abroad, and the mysteries of time commingle as the poems become a visionary map, a guide to clear movement and true singing - Naomi Shihab Nye. Poignant and exact, Wendy Barker's subtly nuanced and beautifully cadenced new collection ranges from the ceremonial 'language of the country of love' to the wistful 'upholstery of what might have been' as the poet herself moves toward increasingly radiant moments of discovery -- Sandra M. Gilbert. The 'miracle of sweet milk in coffee' that these poems offer makes even the hardest news - and there is hard news here - bearable, and perhaps more important, restorative - Alberto A. Ríos.