Making a Kingdom of It

In his sixth poetry collection, Lance Larsen reminds us we are all travelers, bedraggled and tired but curious. Whether by train or on foot, whether exploring London or a suburban backyard or a childhood memory involving cuckoo clocks, the poet revels not in ticking off a successful arrival but in the jostlings of the journey. As Elizabeth Bishop once said: "Homemade, homemade, but aren't we all?" These poems are refreshingly improvisational: lyrical but plain spoken, always in search of what will suffice. As a collection, they might be thought of as a personal Wunderkammer, a metaphoric cabinet in which to gather the wonders that make up the funky holiness of everyday life.