Book-ended by bird song, the poems in Mark Roper’s new collection play a series of variations on how we perceive and try to connect with the ‘morethan-human’ world. There are poems addressed to familiar companions such as the moon, or a shadow; poems that stem from travels abroad; and poems that respond to the miniature worlds, and larger implications, of exhibits in a number of museums. Throughout, Roper’s keynote alertness and subtlety of language frame and mirror his subject matter with consummate skill, allowing the reader to see, hear and sense the vital presences far beyond the margins of the page. The second half of the collection addresses a serious accident in the mountains, and its long aftermath — for which the poet’s startling attention to detail and commitment to his art and craft provides both cure and consolation.