Poetry. SPEED OF LIFE is a collection with a socio-political voice, including To Remain, about which Denise Levertov said the poem drives its terrible knowledge deep into our minds and hearts with hammer blows of factual repetition. The transcendence of its concluding metaphor stands firm on that unshakable foundation. And Eavan Boland comments This is a book that never swerves from its purposes and never allows the reader to. These poems are at the harsh center of things - in the urban sprawl, in the crucible of action, on the scene of the crime. The marvel is that the poet never forgets the obligations and enchantments of language, while always remembering its ethics. These are strong, memorable and also compelling poems. Edward Kleinschmidt Mayes's is the author of MAGNETISM and FIRST LANGUAGE (Juniper Prize). His poetry manuscript, WORKS AND DAYS, won the 1998 Associated Writing Programs Award and will be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in October.