Natural landscapes through which love and lyricism flicker and flare are the backdrop for these poems. The sparrows, pigeons, and magpies of the urban periphery lighten the atmosphere as they edge the collection toward the city in the humorous elegy "Bird List," while "Hand Held," a personal and vulnerable piece, delicately celebrates the author's experience of fathering a child with severe learning difficulties. The collection is filled out with pieces of love and memory, affirming in the end the luck intrinsic to survival.