The Last West; and, Paolo's Virginia

A compact collection of lyric and narrative poems evokes the coastal and alpine landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, ranging from dawns on Boundary Bay to snowbound aretes and fiorded shores. Several pieces dramatize mountain ascent and glacier hazards, while others depict seabird rookeries, seal raids, surveying life, and coastal towns with precise natural detail. A longer spring phantasy introduces a romantic, elegiac thread that sets human longing against elemental scenery. Consistent attention to light, weather, and rugged terrain binds the pieces into reflections on exploration, solitude, and the meeting of sea and mountain.