This collection gathers together the mature work of Australian poet, Noel Rowe, who passed away in 2007. Rowe"s poetry crafts a meditative and compassionate vision of the human beast. His work is dirge and psalm: a song of sly praise, politics and openhearted humour. It spans the everyday experiences of friendship, family relations, politics, religion; evokes the nature of suffering and the inequalities of the contemporary world; examines the lies and wisdom we are all capable of; and does so through a voice rich with the experience of the world and its deep contemplation.