In the Echoey Tunnel

Christopher Reid always startles and delights readers of discernment. He has, too, always broken new ground, as evidenced here by two long poems, both concerned with the coaxing of eloquence from difficult circumstances. The first recounts, in accomplished argot, the quirky memories of an old man in his hundredth year. The second celebrates the recovery from a dangerous illness of his wife - broken fragments that sing themselves into wholeness.