Book excerpt: "Gerber has a gentle touch and an unaffected, articulate voice that can be smart, funny, wise—sometimes all at the same time."—Library Journal "[Gerber] is one of the most adept and accessible of the poets who explore the meaning of humans' relation with earth and existence itself."—ForeWord Into a frenzied world that hurtles ever faster somewhere, Dan Gerber's poetry offers a necessary and reflective presence. Drawing upon eight previous collections, and including a book-length selection of new poems, this retrospective tunes its senses to the natural world and a provenance that includes the influence of Buddhism, English Romanticism, and a deep reading of Rainer Maria Rilke's oeuvre. Pastoral and expansive, Gerber's poetry is concerned with the universe just outside each of our windows—the immediately viewable landscape in front of us and the mysterious vastness beyond. From "Dark Matter": The visible drapes itself around the invisible, the way my jacket takes its shape from my shoulders. An unseen gravity whirls near the center of our galaxy, an unseen heart near the center of the bodies in which we desire. I seldom think of Neptune out there, way beyond my pointing to it on a summer night . . . Dan Gerber is the author of eight collections of poetry, three novels, a book of short stories, and two books of nonfiction. A former professional race-car driver, he has traveled extensively as a journalist, particularly in Africa. He lives in Santa Ynez, California.