Answering the Ruins

In his new collection, Gregory Fraser crafts extraordinary poems out of ordinary subjects such as relationships and childhood. Moving from narrative to monologue to lyric, he fills each poem with wise and tricky allusions and a rich range of expression. In ""Autobiography at Seventeen,"" for example, his lines dance around idioms to make them fresh rather than familiar. ""Cheat"" explores the complicated interplay of hate and guilt, as unintended revenge comes down in a most catastrophic way. The comic and biting ""Poetry Is Stupid"" lets readers in on a formative moment of decision for the poet. Most touching is the long work dedicated to Fraser's brother, ""Hephaestus Calls My Brother Home,"" an elegy that shifts from tenderness to violence with startling ease and clarity.