Stephen Thomas: The book is arranged in five sections, each comprised of poems that explore different concerns: the naturalworld, becoming American, grief at loss, alcoholism and recovery, the spiritual life. (About becoming more American: the longer I live in Europe the more American my poems become.) These things have concerned me all through my life. When my sister was killed along with her husband by a drunk driver in 1997, I did what a poet does: try to find the words and rhythms that fit the awakened feelings. It was in this context that theambiguous phrase what is between us came to me. It can, of course, refer to what separates us and what joins us. It could be a question or an incomplete statement. It points to the tension on earth right now as the fabric of life is threatened by our inability to face what it means to be mortal and everlasting.
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