In this haunting, beautiful third collection from Jill Bialosky, the poet examines the intrusion of eros, art, and the imagination on ordinary life.The lover who whispers Is it still snowing? . . . Will you stay with me? in the first poem reappears throughout the book in different guisessometimes seemingly real, at other times as muse, doppelgnger, or dream. In The Seduction, as the lovers stand to watch a house fire gorgeous, dazzling, / the orange and reds of such ruinthe poem, like the book itself, becomes a study in the nature of reality, selfhood, and the different levels of consciousness we inhabit. Evoking Penelope and Odysseus and Orpheus and Eurydice, Bialosky asks us to consider the instability of the self and the myriad forms it can take through art, in poems that are sexy, dark, and at once cool and emotional. The creation of the observing mind is paramount here; whether the lover goes or stays, the poems remain.In Intruderher most mesmerizing gathering of poems yetBialosky has captured not only the fleeting truths and pleasures of passion but also its mysterious dangers. Dont be afraid. Come closer. Its bath time. The boys in the tub, Fathers shaving, Mother is dressed in her evening wear: black silk slip, high heels, leaning on the tubs edge.......Look into Mothers eyes. What truth do they belie? from Saturday NightFrom the Hardcover edition.