Collects C.K. Stead's most recent poems. The brilliant and moving focus of the collection is its final sequence, written after Stead suffered a stroke which temporarily affected his ability to read and write. Here fragmentary poems poignantly explore frailty and the closeness of death, the challenge of words and language, and the relieved and excited recovery of the power to use them.

The "black river" of mortality is a constant presence in this latest collection by critically acclaimed poet C. K. Stead. Written within the last 18 months, these poignant poems vividly explore the poet's feeling of frailty following a stroke, which temporarily impaired his ability to read or write, and the subsequent excitement of recovery.