Poetry. "As a poet, Barfield is an alchemist distilling language from calla lilies, port wine, and skulls. Indeed, he approaches a wide range of subjects with extreme care, in the manner of a terrestrial saint on pilgrimage toward a visionary existence. His poems celebrate the unknown in the known with such subtle intensity that mystical life is achieved. With each poem, it seems, a sacred language emerges until the poem's very bones vibrate organic sounds. What radiates from these linguistic bones are brilliant waves of consciousness"-Alan Britt.