In his first full-length poetry collection since 2004, Nelson Ball, Canada's most renowned minimalist, offers up compressed meditations Ñ ranging from the whimsical to the mournful Ñ on clouds, birds, insects, trees live and dead, water-stained walls, crumbling windmills, and hyphenation. Ball's poems are meticulously polished gems that move through the seasons, finding beauty and depth in the most banal and simple things.

Nelson Ball is a poet and bookseller living in Paris, Ontario, who has been writing since the early 1960s. He has worked as a labourer, chauffeur, clerk, seasonal forest ranger, record store clerk, and janitor. From 1965 to 1973 he ran the legendary Weed/Flower Press, publishing mimeo editions of early books by Victor Coleman, Carol Bergé, David McFadden, bill bissett, bpNichol, and many others. Nelson is the author of more than 30 poetry books and chapbooks. He and his late wife, the artist Barbara Caruso, are the subject of Catherine Stevenson's 2014 documentary film Nelson Ball & Barbara Caruso / Home Project / A Photo Documentary.

Nelson Ball's profile page

From his seat at the pond's edge, the poet learns to hear the language of its elements, and then teaches the reader to do the same.Ó (Nita Pronovost, Matrix)