Berry, a veteran of the Vietnam War, reflects on his life through poetry.

Split into five sections, this collection of poetry focuses primarily on the author’s experiences as a soldier during the Vietnam War, and on the lasting impact the horrors of war can have on a person. Berry’s writing is evocative, deft at setting a scene while also conveying emotion. The work is strongest when the poet examines the consequences of war or laments the futility of so much life lost; in “Easter Sunday, 1969,” the speaker asks, “Angel Wing Cambodian border. / Brief fight. / Other guy dies. / Is that Easter? / Do we live because someone bled? / Don’t know. / But it brings a man to his knees.” In “Operation Ranch Hand,” Berry describes the utter destruction caused by war tactics: “And if no pencilneck cares / about the wildlife that lost their habitat, / are they at least interested in the 150,000 / Vietnamese children with severe birth defects?” Similarly, in “Ars Moriendi,” the speaker ponders, “Is there an art of dying? / A good death? / An absolution?” Though the pieces centering his experience as a soldier and veteran are the most powerful—featuring spare prose and unembellished imagery that reflect the stark and brutal realities of war—the rest of the anthology mostly veers away from this mode, instead concentrating on Berry’s childhood, loved ones, and mythological deities. The verses in these sections can feel more like classic, traditional poetry, allowing the author to showcase his skill at crafting descriptive imagery, as in “Of Sun and Moon,” where Berry writes, “Moon, icy witness to morality, / Gives shadow to the passing of the flesh, / And proves the instant.” Overall, this is an honest and moving assemblage of excellent poetry.

An engaging and expressive collection of autobiographical verse.