Dick Bakken's poetry ranges from the classical to the humorous oral to confessional ... and he makes each style work for the material contained within it.

"Yes I Am!" begins with a question and non-answer "Are you a mouse / or a man? Yes / I am. Yes I am." which transforms into joyous exuberance which transforms into sexual slang which transforms into nature-poet-laughter. This broad range of subject matter works in the playful, associative style of the poem.

"The Necklace of Seeds" begins "From her chamber Su Ch'in" - each of the semi-independent 5 line verses retains a flavour of well-translated Chinese poetry with subtle hints that the poem is contemporary American.

"Canticle For Her Bedroom" is a contemporary litany repeating "bless" in broken syntax. The ability to select the concrete and a perfect control of line breaks is highlighted in this style: "now only for Bill yes o bless / her white hands dropping combs bracelets rings / white blouse white".

"Adam's Poems" is a conversation between God and Adam with a surprising play on language and expectations.

The remainder of the thirty-eight poems in this collection are similarly diverse. Even the poems that did not speak to me required that I recognize the skill with which it was written.