The narrative poems in Dorianne Laux's fifth collection charge through the summer of love, where Vietnam casts a long shadow, and into the present day, where she compassionately paints the smoky bars, graffiti, and addiction of urban life. Laux is "continually engaging and, at her best, luminous" (San Diego Union-Tribune).from "To Kiss Frank,"make out with him a bit, thisis what my friend would like to dooh these too many dead summers later,and as much as I want to stroll with herinto the poet's hazy fancyall I can see is O'Hara's long gone lipsfallen free of the bone, slumberingbeneath the grainy soil.
