Constant State of Leaping

This collection, Morton's tenth, is a bold book of poetry delving into risks. It's the moving forward; the constant discovery of new things. Using a combination of quotes, mythological images, and exquisite metaphors from nature, Morton delivers poems that describe the absolute urgency of giving one's heart over to life, the burning drive to have faith in the world, the insistence that everything, in its own way, is holy. This book is unfettered joy.Tending Fires I wanted to write a sonnet last night,because that's what lovers do, but the fireneeded tending, and all I could think ofwere your shoulders, and that's not romantic,so I put on another log, and thoughtabout that hot summer day underneaththat oak, when our shoulders brushed, and I blushedat the nearness of you, and how we madelove that night . . . still . . . that's not what I wantedto write . . . But it's you; you, my love. You aremy night and my morning, and the hot coalsbeneath these logs . . . hear them hiss and whisperlike cicadas-cicadas of the trees,and the summer, and of all things that burn.