Among the Crags of the Eyrie

Daniel Shapiro's Among the Crags of the Eyrie brings together several strands in the poet's oeuvre to date, namely, confessional poetry, poems relating to family and relationships, and ekphrastic verse. The poems in this new collection are constructed with remarkable precision, each a gift of music and form. They seek to ascend and descend, the way eagles do from their eyries, but also transcend, as suggested in the title poem. Others grouped in the book's four sections include a confession provoked by a fire, exploring its traumatic aftermath as well as its capacity for generating renewal; whimsical elegies honoring the poet's father and mother; and tender lyrics to lovers, even one to Brazilian "birdees." A long narrative piece, "The Thief with his Eyes," relates a story about a distant cousin who made his fortune in California, then lost it all. Among the book's additional offerings are an ode to an ostrich; a meditation on eggs, from chicken to chocolate to Fabergé; and poems reflecting on works by Tiffany, Rodin, Modigliani, and others, which celebrate art's transformative power.