MARK McMORRIS is author of The Black Reeds (Georgia) and other collections. He has published his poems in New American Writing, Callaloo, Conjunctions, and other journals. McMorris is an assistant professor of English at Georgetown University.

The punch is a stunning one, landing its blow with such finesse you are surprised you didn't see it coming. . . . McMorris credibly sounds the mature intonations of a late-career poet when he speaks of ‘the smell of the world in its dotage coming to roost.’ Poetic equilibrium of this order is a rare thing when managing such charged material, but in a young poet it is cause for small amazement.