In Out of Nowhere, Susan Comninos pays homage to the long and varied traditions of poets who have come before her and turns poetry on its head. In

these pages, "No barrow depends on this / trio of hens," nudists visiting an art museum become the spectacle themselves, and maple buds "fist their way / Open." On each page, a gift-a surprise-a riot of language! These poems are sassy, provocative, perfectly cut. The fantasy of nudists visiting the Louvre in "Naked Admission" is a wild, well-wrought hoot. The manuscript holds great depth, too, in breakthrough poems such as "Childlessness" or "Lullaby." These poems are "to be of use," as Marge Piercy once wrote. Their use is to delight, console and nurture our spirits through troubled times.