Phillip Barker is a meticulous observer of life. If you read his work thoughtfully, you can learn how to appreciate the world in which you live. Phil uses items from what Randall Jarrell called "the dailiness of life" to slide back to the past and to clarify the present. An avid student of history, he brings each poem alive with the vast world of everyone present and gone before. Each sentence is not only a response to events, but a subtle record infused with brilliant introspection. A must read!