Given to me by a friend from work as part of a book-themed Secret Santa exchange.

It's been a long time since I've read a book of poetry. I've read the occasional poem here and there, from time to time, but there's a certain enjoyment to simply having the time to dedicate (part of) a morning to slowly going through the book, poem by poem, and thinking about each one.

Most of Cole's poems are short, one-page (14-16 line) thoughts. In general, I liked his few longer poems better than the short ones – though I don't know if I can put my finger on precisely why, as the length itself doesn't have anything to do with it, I think.

My favorite poem, on a first read through, is "The Erasers." My favorite set of lines, however, is from "Persimmon Tree":

Poor Man, kind and apprehensive
he looks at himself but cannot see
the beauty of his free will unless
he's suffering at the hands of it.