Night Wing over Metropolitan Area

"From observation to contemplation, into memory and back to the scorched and gorgeous present, Hoppenthaler's fourth collection voices a hard-earned weariness that acknowledges but resists resignation. As Grammy Award-winning songwriter Rosanne Cash puts it, "Hoppenthaler's attention to the specifics of nature-hummingbirds, Japanese maples, snowfall-are like embroidery, stitched through and holding together the sharp memories and images of loss, longing, regret, and hope." These subtle yet powerful poems assay aging, spirituality, contemporary political concerns, death, the struggles of a mentally ill child and related marital pressures, and the poet's odyssey ends with resiliency and purpose reinscribed"--