Having developed a large reputation for his many novels and nonfiction works, Richard Wagamese now appears before us as a poet, with a collection of stunning poems ranging over a broad landscape. He begins with an immersion in the immemorial landscape where the ancient ones stand at your shoulder . . . making you a circle / containing everything. These are Medicine teachings told from the experience of one who lived and still lives them. He describes his life on the road when he repeatedly ran away at an early age, and the beatings he received when the authorities tried to beat the Indian right out of me. Yet even in the most desperate situations, Wagamese shows us Canada as seen through the eyes and soul of a well-worn traveller, with his love of country, his love of people. Through it all, there are poems of love and music, the language sensuous and tender.
