In the congestion of contemporary American poetry, Michael Pettit's work stands out for its clarity of vision and strong sense of humanity. This is his second book of poems, once again informed by his photographic eye and his ear for authentic sounds.
Strung throughout the book are poems based on the Scottish photographer Eadweard Muybridge's Animal Locomotion, a historic photographic document. Pettit uses these poineering images as the basis for his poetic dreaming, and the result is a poignant, integrated sequence of highly moving poems, studded between other vivid lyrics.
The dominant motif is motion: the physical, emotional, and imaginative movement of various figures presented through the flow of language. It is a broad subject, incorporating elements such as memory, visions of the future, and the unexpected turns that mind, life, or speech can take. All serve as signs of the human spirit, which Pettit celebrates with supple, resonant language. The long title poem which concludes the book is cosmography for his daughter, a gift of faith in the face of the spirit found elsewhere in the book.
