The broad structure of Tables moves from a focus on nuclear physics to astronomy. DABNEY STUART's use of these controls isn't technical, though some of their terms and concepts are explicit: e.g., "strong forces," "fission," "black holes," "dark matter." More pervasive, imbedded in the vision the poems embody, are images from these two areas. STUART uses them in a variety of contexts to explore dimensions of everyday human experience. In "Yucca Mountain," for instance, the place planned for the burial of nuclear waste becomes a focus for the yucca plant itself, the dances Native Americans once performed on the little mountain, and the speaker's memories of his father. Family is one of the recurrent contexts for the understanding particle physics shadows. "Vowel Sounds" begins with the problem of naming newly discovered forces, and moves toward a conclusion in which discrete particles and the friction among them become an image of how families work. Artists and other non-scientific characters (Czanne, Miro, Ezekiel, Sidney, Klee) counterpoint these ruminations. STUART's unpredictable humor colors these poems, as does his love of our life and the complex ways we speak of it.
